Patrick Parson immigrated to Canada from Trinidad in 1988, bringing with him rich cultural traditions in dance and music of the Caribbean. Shortly after his arrival he applied for a partial scholarship to the Toronto Dance Theatre School and studied management at Ryerson University.
In 1990, noting a lack of African and Caribbean professional arts in Toronto he founded Ballet Creole. Two years later, the company established itself as a major Canadian company with performances at the nationally renowned Premiere Dance Theatre, Harbourfront Centre. Since 1994, Ballet Creole has presented its annual dance season at Harbourfront's du Maurier and Premiere Dance Theatres in Toronto. The company performs regularly in many of the major cities and festivals in Canada and, in 1993 expanded its touring to the northern United States. They recently performed at the Healing Through the Arts Festival in Denver, where they shared the stage with such acclaimed dance companies as Dance Theatre of Harlem and Dallas Black Dance Theatre.
Patrick is presently Artistic Director, principal choreographer and Musical Director of the Creole Musical Ensemble, which is part of the performing company and is pursuing a masters degree in Dance Ethnology at York University. Each year Ballet Creole visits schools throughout Ontario to promote dance as an art form to youth. Performances invariably encourage lessons in racial harmony through promotion of multicultural understanding. Patrick actively volunteers in the arts community and serves as a cultural advisor and committee member with the Toronto and Ontario Arts Councils, Metro Cultural Affairs, Harbourfront Centre and the Laidlaw Foundation. He is currently a course director teaching dance in the Department of Physical and Health Education at the University of Toronto and teaches dance at York University.
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