From Discipline to Joy: Patricia Zhou’s Journey to Perfecting the Art of Feeling Well
Dancer and choreographer Patricia Zhou shares her Art of Feeling Well: From ballet's discipline to the freedom of movement, and how self-care fuels her passion and purpose.
How did you get into dance?
It's kind of a funny story. I started dancing because my older sister liked dancing, and so I kind of was dragged along. But I think because I was talented, the teacher started to push me a lot more, but I have very traditional Chinese parents who wanted me to be a doctor or a lawyer. So when I started getting a little bit older, they were like ‘Okay, we really don't want her to dance. What can we do?’.
So my mom essentially organized these really strict ballet lessons when I was visiting my family in China. And she was kind of hoping that the teacher would be so strict and mean that I would be really scared off from dancing and never want to dance again. But it was actually the first time I saw real classical ballet in the flesh and something about the discipline and that kind of nonstop work towards perfection really suddenly changed my whole entire being and what I wanted from life.
So that's kind of how I got into it. It was intense.
And what’s your earliest memory of dance?
My earliest memory of dance was actually when I was in kindergarten. We had dance classes and I was so shy and I really didn't want to dance. So I remember once my grandma was there and I was like ‘Grandma, if you dance, then I'll dance’. And so my poor grandma was there dancing at the kindergarten. And even then I refused to dance because I was just so shy. So my earliest memory is watching her dance.
Where do you find inspiration?
I find inspiration everywhere. I think it's really easy to divvy up all the different arts and different disciplines. But actually I think art is such a transferable aesthetic and skill set. So I might get inspired by some shapes on the tube or a weird looking leaf. I think there are things that are beautiful everywhere if we just look for them.
How do you use dance and movement as meditation?
When I dance it is probably some of the only times in my life that I actually feel very present. I think with the pace and how our phones, AI and everything has taken over our lives. Even on days when I might not be feeling that great, I really try to push myself to go dance because it is that moment where you can forget about all of your troubles, anything that you're stressed about, and just focus on this one thing and just get to connect with your body, which I am really grateful to be able to do something that is good for you as well.
How does movement make you feel? Where do you feel it?
Movement makes me feel free, like you could do anything or feel anything is so amazing. I can feel it through my fingertips, through my toes, through every pore of my being.
Where’s your favourite place to clear your mind?
I think actually the ballet studio. It's just such a sacred place to get to be a part of.
Talk us through your daily routine, including any wellness rituals.
I feel like changes a lot because I'm constantly travelling and doing all sorts of different things, but the start of the day is always the one time that I feel I need to be quite rigorous. I always have basically the same breakfast. I always make a drip coffee. I always take my vitamins and just have a moment to comprehend what's going on with the day. And I think that does make a difference to set us up well for whatever's to come.
How would you describe your relationship with your body and health?
I think this has taken a long time, especially coming from ballet where there's such intense expectations of how you should look and how you should dance. It took a long time for me to start to celebrate the things that made me different because I think that's actually what makes us stand out and it’s so beautiful.
So now I do try to really focus more on how I feel versus how I look. And I do think that it has this way of making you glow from the inside and feel beautiful from the inside, which I think from the outside is actually a lot more appealing and genuine.
How do you stay in tune with your body?
I try to listen to how I'm feeling. Sometimes, obviously, you have to do a job or you have to do a certain thing, which your body might not be feeling at the moment. But I think that's the one thing that has really helped me. I've always really been in tune with my body and not pushed it past its limit because as a dancer, my body is my instrument. So I have to make sure that I take care of it as well.
How do you embody The Art of Feeling Well’? What does it mean to you?
The Art of Feeling Well to me is taking care of yourself so that you can help take care of others. The majority of my job is dancing and performing, but alongside that I teach and I think there's something so magical and wonderful about being able to share your joy. And to be able to share that, I think it starts from taking care of ourselves and making sure that we feel good to then be able to pass that on to other people.
So for me, it really does start from self-care and self-love.
