Bringing together diverse and dynamic dance artists from across the world, Here & Now Showcase arrives at Edinburgh Fringe festival in August for a month of striking dance works.
We are spotlighting a selection of dance artists presenting work at the festival including Wet Mess, Dickson Mbi and Luca Rutherford.
Ziza Patrick will present Dandyism, a work realised back in 2018 that highlights how African men in 18th Century France reclaimed the ‘dandy’ and ‘flamboyant’ styles of the time in resistance to slavery.
Ahead of the festival, we chatted to Ziza about Dandyism and what audiences can expect, or not expect, from the work.
Q: Tell us about your practice and artistic journey?
A: I am a multidisciplinary performance artist and a dance theatre maker of Rwandan heritage. I create a variety of work which explores the themes of African traditions and cultural norms. I am particularly interested in exploring themes that had an impact on me growing up in Rwanda.
My artistic journey began with the exploration of fashion through African Dandyism, specifically from Congo (La Sape). Since the 1960s, La Sape has become a phenomenon and a way of life amongst men in Congo. I wanted to explore character building through this movement. I was intrigued by the magical quality, a sense of escapism from reality to transform into otherness and to present oneself in a different way through beautiful clothes. And so the journey began in 2017.
Q: What drew you to presenting work with Here & Now as part of Fringe 2024?
A: Edinburgh Festival Fringe is truly a symphony of entertaining theatre and comedy atmosphere, where works presented come from all walks of life. The festival is without a doubt a world stage, where a lot of exciting performances and creative events are to be experienced.
I would argue that there is very little representation of the ‘global south’ performance art on show, even more so from the East African region. For my work to be selected means I am bringing audiences something that they can experience at first sight, something that can incite thoughts and encourage the viewers to engage in discussion.
“I think art is valuable because it brings visibility and creates awareness, challenging established rules.”
Q: What can audiences expect when experiencing your work?
A: Audiences can expect beauty, pride, and raw physicality from the performers.
Q: Who or what influences you the most?
A: My influences come from all sorts; from everyday life, films, social media, music, nature, etc.
Mostly influence comes from the women I grew up around; their mannerism, their appearance, their self-respect and their confidence. For them going to a corner shop was an opportunity to apply make-up and to dress up. There was no such thing as mundanity, they always looked immaculate regardless of the environment.
Perhaps the pressures of society play a role in this, but the women were comfortable in their skin and loved taking care of themselves. I would say that because of those female figures, beauty is an undercurrent of all my creativity.
Q: What makes art so valuable to society/culture/communities, in your opinion?
A: I think art is valuable because it brings visibility and creates awareness, challenging established rules. It’s about asserting oneself in places lacking cultural representation of any kind, as well as having a positive influence and for artists to inspire future generations .
It’s important for me as an artist to remind myself that I have total freedom of how I choose to make work, and to understand that there will always be references that may speak to either a few people or a lot of people. It should be that way in order to start conversations.
I remind myself that no matter the subject matter I am exploring, my work will always be my individual reflection of the contemporary and dynamic time I’m living in.
Dandyism by Ziza Patrick will be presented at Dance Base as part of their Fringe Fragments event on 19 August at 5pm and 20 August at 5.20pm, presented as part of the Here & Now showcase. Find out more here.