When we speak to dancer, model and movement director Patricia Zhou she’s rehearsing for the lead role of Sugar Plum in Nutcracker at the Southbank Centre. Wearing a pink hat she knitted herself, she hops into a taxi, making her way back to east London after a day of rehearsals.
When she’s not appearing in a show, she’s shooting a constant slew of campaigns, training, teaching dance and choreographing dance for film. “I think I’m just generally in a state of exhaustion,” she laughs.
It was during the Covid pandemic that Patricia began choreographing her own dance films. The second film Patricia directed, Orange Tree, which Rodarte provided the wardrobe for, was shown at film festivals across eight countries and received seven awards.
“As a dancer I am someone who is a vessel for other people’s work, but during Covid I started to realise that everyone has their own point of view and stories to tell, and it’s all very valid. I found it a really fun challenge,” she says.
Patricia’s talent was discovered at the age of six, when she attended folk dance classes at a Chinese school in Michigan. “I have a vivid memory of performing on stage and having no idea what I was doing. I just copied my older sister. People still laugh about it to this day, because I was half a count behind everyone, but still the best.”
Following her initial recital all those years ago, Patricia’s mother enrolled her into further dance classes, mainly to keep her from watching too much television rather than with the explicit goal of unleashing an untapped potential.
© Morgan RobertsBy the age of ten, her teacher began encouraging Patricia to enter more and more competitions, but her parents, who are first-generation Chinese immigrants, decided she was spending too much time dancing.
Tactically, during one of the yearly trips to visit family in Beijing, her mother signed her up for private lessons at the Beijing Dance Academy. “The ballet teacher was really strict and scary, they thought I would never want to dance again after that,” she laughs. But the experience did the opposite. “Suddenly, I was just like, ‘Oh my gosh, this is what I want to do’”.
© Morgan RobertsReturning home to the US Patricia attended at the Kirov Academy of Washington DC, from where she graduated with a prestigious President’s Award. Her first official role was at The Royal Ballet in London, followed by the Staatsballett Berlin, where she met a Spanish director with contemporary style she fell in love with.
This gave her repertoire a new twist and soon she was headhunted by the LA Dance Project. “I found it really exciting and that’s what spurred me to move into freelance work, which has enabled me to do more commercials and pursue dance in film. And this is the thing that I want to put my own stamp on.”
For the Hello! Fashion cover, Patricia is wearing Chanel SS24 – she has been a friend of the French fashion house since last year. “It just made sense. I feel like Chanel and dance have had such a long history. When they approached me, I thought, yes, this is very much for me and it’s just one of those dream brands.”
© Morgan RobertsLooking towards the future, Patricia is hoping to stay in London and perform work that resonates with her, while continuing to do her own projects and drive change to improve the life of new dancers breaking through.”
And when she’s not working such a back-to-back schedule she likes to hit the dance floor if she’s at a party. “That is one hundred percent one of my favourite things to do,” she laughs. “Most of the time I probably look like a real fool but I am enjoying myself so you know…”
The full interview with Patricia Zhou appears in the February/March issue of Hello! Fashion, out now…
