About – Ella Mesma Company

Ella Mesma Company

Dispora Dance Theatre

Being Good Ancestors (inspired by Layla Saad)

We are committed to encouraging diversity and inclusion and to ensuring there is no discrimination wherever we can. We oppose all forms of unlawful and unfair discrimination. We want our workforce to be truly representative of all sections of society.
We will endeavour to ensure every employee/freelancer feels respected and able to give their best.
To pay respects to our ancestral dance forms and create an innovative mix of these dance styles (diaspora dance theatre)
To create ethical, political, personal work and conversation using diaspora dance theatre
To provide opportunities to learn, heal, create through the medium of diaspora dance theatre
To create performance platforms for diaspora dance theatre
To create opportunities for those with less access to watch and enjoy theatre We recognize the imminent threat our species plays to irreversible climate change. We want our planet to be a nurturing and abundant home for all species and we oppose all forms of contamination to the planet.

Ella mesma company

About Us

It is a pleasure to meet you here! My name is Ella, and I created Ella Mesma Company to make work by the superheroes I wanted to see on stage.

I love to work with the dances of the Orishas, contemporary and Hip Hop styles to create theatre collaboratively with my company. I am super inspired by dance as a healing ritual, a gateway for transformation and positive change (can art be activism? Can we use it, like a hammer, to shape the world I/we want to see?). I have a holistic approach to creativity, creating from a space of connectivity to self, safety and purpose .

As I didn’t dance until late, it is important to me to reach those who don’t necessarily have a background in theatre, and as a woman of mixed heritage, I strive for my cast and the stories we tell to be super-hero(ine) voices under represented onstage.

I also love to connect with my audience through discussions and play (whilst ensuring the audience never feel pressured to join in!)

The journey began in 2011 with a premiere at Breakin’ Convention (Sadler’s Wells): a solo called Evol. Since then, Ella Mesma Company have been commissioned by a number of leading arts organisations. The company formed as Ella Mesma Company in 2014 with a piece called Orixás, and have presented work in a number of highly regarded venues & festivals including Sadler’s Wells (Wildcard 2017), Women’s International Leadership Conference, New York City (2017), National Circus Centre (2018), ICA Festival, Capetown South Africa (2018) and IETM Hull (2019). Ella Mesma Company were residents with Casa Latin American Festival 2015, Associate Artists at dance City (2017), Associate Artist at Trinity Centre Bristol (2018), a Slate World Artist (2019) and a Pervasive Media Studio Resident (2020) and Company in Residence for 2020-21 at Pavillion Dance South West. In 2013, Ella Mesma was selected as a future Dance Leader for the ABLE leadership program and in 2015 awarded a Bench fellowship for emerging female choreographers. The company were runners up for the ‘Best Dance Production of The Year’ by the Latino Life LUKAS Awards 2018.

We would love to hear from you, be it for workshops, performances or coaching experiences or if you just want to connect and collaborate!