The love of dance brought Hamza Pirimo to Ireland last December. He grew up in a home that celebrated dance and music in Uganda, and his talents have seen him travel across Europe to study and perform.
After hearing about a call for auditions for Luail, Ireland’s national dance company, online, he decided to apply. “Let me try my luck, apply and see what happens,” he says.
He was picked to come for an audition in Brussels and got through to the next round. “Meeting everyone, seeing how good everyone was and how welcoming everyone was, it felt really good.”
His final audition was in Ireland and he secured a place in the company.
His love of dance started at the age of three. He grew up as a middle child of six, and dance and music were a big part of their upbringing, influenced by his parents, who were part of a traditional Ugandan dance troupe.
Any time his parents met their friends, he and his siblings would entertain them by dancing, and they would often receive sweets or some pocket money for their performance. “It was a very high point in our lives as kids. This is how I slowly got introduced to dance.”
As he got older he took up rugby and football and lost his interest in dance, but he was reintroduced to it through hip-hop and contemporary styles.
With the physical nature of rugby, he was often injured and couldn’t dance. He had to make a choice.
“There’s a way dance just made me feel as a teenager growing up. I had a lot of anger issues and I would let out all these emotions through movement. It just made me feel more relaxed and more calm.
There are a lot of beautiful places and a lot of beautiful spaces that are welcoming everyone. This is really nice and really important also, especially for this generation
“Dance, as any other sport, you have to find a way to get inspiration, you have to go into different spaces. You have to not only be imaginary, but also very physical, so you have to take care of your body. I fell in love with the process and this is why I kept doing it.
“There’s a way it just makes me feel whenever I dance. I feel out of space. I feel like I’m myself. I feel like I’m connecting, not only to myself, but also to my ancestors, in a way.”
While dancing with Luail, Pirimo fuses different elements such as hip-hop and traditional Ugandan styles with contemporary dance. He also enjoys ballet.
Pirimo recalls: “We didn’t have a lot of things growing up, but we had enough things as a family to be well off. We grew up in a very good community, very supportive.”
As a youngster he wanted to be a footballer. “I wanted to do my best and find a way to take care of my family. I think it [dance] kind of grew on me every day. So, the love of dancing brought me into doing it professionally.”
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At 19, he moved to Germany to volunteer on an exchange programme between European and African countries, to teach Ugandan traditional dance. He taught dance in a studio and taught students about Ugandan and African culture.
He described moving across the world as “challenging”.
“Being away from something you feel familiar with, especially your family and friends, was a bit difficult. But I was in a state of wanting to explore something new, to try to challenge myself.”
When Covid-19 put the world into lockdown, he had time to figure out what he wanted to do next. After researching different scholarships, he picked a school in Bielefeld in Germany.
He wrote to the school to explain that he was a Ugandan dancer, living in Germany, and was offered an audition and then a scholarship.
In choosing to come to Dublin for work, he had to leave his partner and young daughter in Germany. “They are my everything, my backbone. They are very special to me.”
“It’s challenging because [my daughter] is growing very fast. I’m very lucky to have the opportunity to see them frequently. I know they miss me and I miss them as well. It’s always special whenever I see them.”
He moved to Dublin last December and since then has been settling into Irish life. He lives close to the Phoenix Park, which he enjoys.
“I think Dublin in general is very vibrant for me. It feels a lot like Kampala [the Ugandan capital]. Kampala is really vibrant, a lot of energy, there’s a lot happening. There’s also a sense of unfamiliarity that comes in at some point with me living here in Dublin. It’s very multicultural, which I really love. But at the same time, there’s also this weird energy from certain people or in certain areas. In general, I know people mean well.”
Dublin’s openness is one of his favourite things about the city, as he felt it was lacking where he lived previously in Germany. “I take the bus to come to the city and the bus drivers are so friendly and the people you meet on the streets.”
One thing that surprised him was the beauty of Dublin and Ireland. “There are a lot of beautiful places and a lot of beautiful spaces that are welcoming everyone. This is really nice and really important also, especially for this generation. We need these spaces for people to feel like I belong and I can be myself when I get into these spaces.”
So far he has visited Wexford, Cork and Belfast while touring with Luail’s production of Chora with the Irish Chamber Orchestra.
He hopes to do more travelling around Ireland. “I’m really interested to see different places and experience the Irish culture.”
He sees numerous similarities between Dublin and Uganda, such as how they both have a “vibrant energy, are multicultural and are welcoming”. When asked about differences, he says, “There are economic differences and system differences but no others come to mind.”
Having only been here for about six months, he is still “figuring things out”.
“I think for me, as an African, as a Ugandan, I just want to find my people. Find a group where I belong and then the rest can slowly happen from there, because being mostly alone is very difficult in a new place and trying to figure out things on your own.”
Pirimo is working on Luail’s next production, Reverb, which will be performed across Ireland, September 11th-October 10th.
We would like to hear from people who have moved to Ireland in the past 10 years. To get involved, email newtotheparish@irishtimes.com or tweet @newtotheparish
