Ela Mesma Company

Dispora Dance Theatre

Welcome To Ella Mesma’s Updates (August 2018)

Olá, Hola, Bonjour, Pẹlẹ o!
The sun is shining and the sky is blue. What a wonderful July we have had!
Here are our updates from the past month and our what nexts…I try to keep our updates short and sweet but with plenty of links if you want to know the full story!

This month we have been on an incredible tour around the UK. We visited Trinity Centre in Bristol, Lion Salt Works in Northwich (Yes it is really called Northwich in the county of Chester!), supported by Cheshire Dance, Horniman museum in London, Dance City in Newcastle and Yorkshire Dance in Leeds. In each city Roots of Rumba has taken on a slightly different format… pictures and more details below! We are also conducting some research and making plans for the future of the festival (supported by Eclipse theatre and Live Theatre in Newcastle) which you can participate in here (Thank you!)

Today, I am boarding a flight to head to Capetown where I will spend just over three blissful weeks collaborating with the amazing Toni Stuart (Links to her poetry here). We will be collaborating on a duet called Papyllon which will use silks, poetry, papyrus and paint to explore what it means to be a ‘citizen of the world’. Watch a sneak preview here

And we are excited to announce our line up for Roots of Rumba London which happens on the 15th September below! (Read about all the artistshere)

WORKSHOPS
10.00 – 11.00 Samba Masterclass with Orquidea Lima Felgueiras
11.00-12.30 Ella Mesma Company Class
12.30- 14.00 Rumba Masterclass with Luanda Pau
14.00-15.00 Lunchtime Talk (Pay as you feel: Speakers will be dedicating their time to give you a historic talk: Bring your lunch and your questions: Subject The Roots of Samba with Xavier Osmir)
15.00- 16.30 Orisha Masterclass with Miguel Gonzalez
16.30- 17.30 Kizomba Connection Class with Iris De Brito
SHOWS:
Marv Radio, Luanda Pau, Ama Rouge Ensemble, Dani Sands, Iris De Brito, Sandra Passirani, Myriam Gadri, Franck Arnaud-Lusbec, Ffion Campbell-Davies
AFTERPARTY:
DJ Lubi Jovanovic

TICKETS

Below there is more information on these and a few other stories we hope you might enjoy! Thank you for your support and I hope you enjoy another month of sunshine this August,

Roots of Rumba Leeds (Read more about the event here)

Thank you Yorkshire Dance for having us, to Wardrobe, to DJ Lubi and all the amazing performers on the 20th July.

It was a really special night: we held a Q&A with the artists (Thank you for the suggestion Ian Abbot!) and we had a beautiful jam at the end of the session. The audience were fun and super supportive and enthusiastic… here is a sample of what they said:

And the after party was just on fire!

Ella Mesma Reccomends
So… here at EMC…

We love to recommend other artists we see shining, books we think you might love… this month it is all about books… here is a top 5 book list of our recents… some fiction, some fix your life, some historical: Enjoy!

Born a Crime: Trevor Noah
The Long Walk to Freedom: Nelson Mandela
The Wonder: Diana Evans
The Multi Hyphen Method: Emma Gannon
Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff: Richard Carlson
A Course in Miracles: Helen Schucman
Lyrically Justified: Urban Word Collective

And thank you to all those who recommended these books to me!

Roots of Rumba Newcastle (Read more about the day and artists here)

On Friday 13th July we held our first CPD day (Continuing Professional Development day) for selected North east artists, captured by Nicola Hunter

The rest of the tour (Read more here)

Thank you to all the amazing LSW and Cheshire Dance team… it was a magical space to perform and we loved the jam at the end of the evening!

A very special day we had at the Horniman Museum presenting extracts of Roots of Rumba on Sunday 8th July… along with 30 degrees heat and burning hot feet! Thank you for having us Horniman Museum!

 

Here are some quotes from Trinity Centre in Bristol where we began the tour:
“Moving, joyful, thought provoking, inspiring”

“It was very good. Very relaxing & enthralling watching very talented dancers. I would recommend to friends.”

“It was fantastic. I’ve danced Afro-Caribbean styles from all over Latin America so I identified strongly & enjoyed the synergies.”

Thank you Trinity! Photos by Julia Testa and Roger Barnes

Thank you for the love everyone and sending lots back. Happy reading and see you next month! xxx
Ladylike at Dance City (Read more and catch up on the footage by Julia Testa and fotos by Nicola Hunter here)

(The last of the chickens on tour)

We have come to the end of the road… I can’t quite believe it after three years working on this piece it has come to an end… but it has been such a beautiful and rewarding three years.

 
Papyllon at the ICA (Read more here)

The Institute for Creative Arts (ICA) Live Art Festival 2018 will take place from 1–16 September 2018. This interdisciplinary festival is designed to challenge and extend the public’s experience of live art in a non-commercial environment and make accessible the work of visual and performing artists who explore new forms, break boundaries, flout aesthetic conventions, tackle controversy, confront audiences and experiment with perceptions. The second platform, Intimacies and Biography, considers intimacy and personal performative portraiture in the time of decolonisation, and this is where we will present Papyllon.

Congratulations to the new Rainha da Bateria (Queen of the drums) at London School of Samba where I was queen in 2008. Long live the Queen!

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