Guests Select: Patience J

Patience J is an artist placing Afro dance front and centre. At age 10, a young Patience James-Agbo with her mother and two sisters, moved from Lagos, Nigeria to London, with a dream of becoming a dancer and the traditions of African dance styles embedded in her roots.

She went on to raise the profile and popularity of Afro dance in the UK. She established one of the first Afro dance groups on the scene and brought the joy and infectious energy of Afro dance to the world through her YouTube channel. It has led to her work with major brands including Nike and Adidas, as well as artists including the Pet Shop Boys and Major Lazer. She has performed on the Sadler’s Wells stage as part of Breakin’ Convention festival, with her Patience J Collective, and as part of BBC Dance Passion.

Here she selects five top picks, including movie scenes, music videos and dance films on YouTube, which you need to watch right now!

Choreography by Galen Hooks

There was a period in my career where I was exploring thought provoking pieces to unconventional soundtracks like Afro beats, bringing a lot of my dance theatre background to the forefront of my work.

I would always remember comments like “OH GOSH SHE’S SO EXTRA,” “SHE’S TOO CONFIDENT,” “SHE REALLY THINK SHE’S ALL THAT,” “THIS IS A LOT” etc. I often wondered why these people felt this way, and I quickly realised that this was rarely explored in the Afro dance sector. This was an alien way to interpret these sounds. You should just dance joyfully, enjoy the music and forget about this storytelling business.

Then came Galen Hooks: an American choreographer and dancer. Galen is in the commercial industry, however her storytelling stands out amongst her peers. It’s never about the fancy moves with Galen, but rather the truth of the movement and finding the true artist within.

Her work really speaks to me, resonates with me, mirrors and even reassures my creative process. I feel like wow, “I AM NOT CRAZY!”

Olamide – Science Student

This is a short film in itself, as well as a music video. It’s definitely inspired by Michael Jackson’s Thriller, with its creative direction, costume and choreography by the one and only Kaffy!

This piece of work makes me extra proud to be Nigerian. The creativity and storytelling is amazing to see from an Afro artist/crew. The dance break (4 mins 20 secs) really embraces the Nigerian street dance culture and not street dance in the commercial sense.

The chants, the stomps, the claps, the rhythm and costumes; everything screams at me to return to the motherland. Kaffy paves the way for a lot of us in the Afro scene. She is the mother of Afro dance and still active in the dance scene in Nigeria.

The Nicholas Brothers tap scene from Stormy Weather (1943)

This dance scene left me speechless! Still till this day, I have never seen tap dance performed in this way. The talent is beyond comprehension!

An explosion of joy and energy. They were dancing with their souls! Outstanding showmanship, technicality, timing, coordination, connection with the band, call and response. Simply the greatest tap dancers of all time.

They simply cannot be duplicated. This is a timeless masterpiece that was first introduced to me for a secondary school dance exam, and again at Wac Arts conservatoire, and every time I watch it, to this day I am still gobsmacked by this piece! I took tap lessons in school very seriously because of the Nicholas Brothers.

Dance Battle from You Got Served (2004)

As cliché as it may sound, I have to select the movie You Got Served!

I remember watching this film at the tender age of 15 thinking this is the greatest thing I have ever seen. This movie ignited a fire within me. It made me fearless.

This film is the reason I was auditioning for every street dance crew I could find – hungry, passionate and definitely not taking no for an answer.

I could never get through the movie on my seat. The excitement, energy, dance battles and choreography simply blew my mind. Coming to this country at age 10 and seeing this movie at age 15, truly solidified the idea of me wanting to be a dancer. This movie paves the way for a lot of other dance films that followed.

Freedom is Coming Tomorrow from South African musical Sarafina! (1992)

The Soweto uprising, in an apartheid era.

One of the messages in this movie is that music, art and dance can be a medium in which you can escape the harsh realities of life. This is what I feel with creating, performing and exploring.

The students in this movie rebelled against the introduction of the language Afrikaans being introduced as a way to rule and control them. The dance number Freedom is Coming is them knowing that things will be different. This dance piece and music gives me goosebumps and leaves me in tears every time. There are a lot of cultural and simple but effective elements used in this performance. Dancing in lines, in circles, repetition and gestures. We get the message, we hear their pain.

Sarafina! is a timeless classic.