Ela Mesma Company

Dispora Dance Theatre

June News

Ẹ n lẹ, Salut, Olá,  你好, Hello Creative Beings,

It is my pleasure to see you here and share our news

This months newsletter contents:

LADYLIKE VR simulation with LIVR
AN UNDERWATER LOVESTORY: The foreign bodies underwater photoshoot images by Earth Motion have been released!
THAILAND: The launch of Maya Gandaia website and a very special trip to Thailand for NYE
THE MASKS WE WEAR: Our new community project in collaboration with Costuminati and Vamos starts this week.
EMC Recommends: Whats on this month…

Ella Mesma Company is a British based dance theatre company who use a diverse range of folkloric dancestyles, inspired by my background in Afro-Latin, Breaking and Contemporary dance. The company strive to use diaspora dance theatre (a term we created to communicate this meeting of dances) to allow transformation: telling personal and global stories to connect to our truest selves.

If you want us to bring a show or a class to you, if you would like coaching on your creative journey or are interested in our retreats you are most welcome get in touch!

Ladylike VR Show with LIVR
This week we were delighted to watch the full length performance of LADYLIKE from VAULT Festival in London, which was filmed last summer by LIVR, the world’s first virtual reality content platform dedicated to theatre.
It really was an incredible experience to watch our show in 3d: we saw the audience members (some of whom may be reading this newsletter today: Miko Jaqueline, Jo Leahy, Kristina Alleyne, Saskia Horton, Lincoln Lee: we saw and laughed with you!)
I was also amazed by the details: how you can see every crease and crinkle of fabric or fleck of dirt (of which there was lots in the dungeon like setting of the underground vaults!) on our costumes.
The video will be available to watch in 3d this month as part of a LIVR subscription package (or promoters, let us know and we can bring our set of VR Glasses to you).
BUT if you would like to see us LIVE with our new cast (I am no longer dancing in the piece: my role will be danced by the amazing Lucia Afonso who is a bgirl, jiu jitsu queen and an exquisite dancer of Afro Brazilian styles), then we have a VIP discount code for our community which will only work until this Friday, so grab up your tickets for this years Casa Latin American Festival! We are there July 18,19,20th (plus a press night on the 16th July). Get your tickets using the discount LOVECASA (until May 31st) at https://www.arcolatheatre.com/whats-on/ladylike/
An Underwater Photoshoot
Here are a few from the Underwater Lovestory series by Jessica Mitchell of Earth Motion Photography, featuring dancers Isaac Ouro Gnao, Lucia Afonso, David Evans and Franck Arnaud-Lusbec. There are lots more images in the series over at our website www.ellamesma.co.uk (which has undergone some updates and upgrades this month).

The photoshoot, complements our newest show: Foreign Bodies, which is an underwater love story celebrating mixed heritage Britain and the beauty and collision of cultural differences. The concept of this show is close to my heart and was inspired (amongst other things) by the debates in Bristol around Colston and the covering up of or erasing of aspects of h(is)(er)story…

Promoters we also have the full length footage from our R&D sharing: please contact us if you would like to be sent the link to watch it.

The launch of Maya Gandaia and our first retreat to Thailand
Maya Gandaia (pronounced My-A Gan-dye-A) is my newest creation and such a dream come true because it is all about empowering people to really step into their brilliant creative self. Through coaching, Path For workshops (this is the finished HOME Series which many of you have attended this year) and retreats. Originally called Home Series, The Path For are a series of sessions inspired by the chakra system. They use movement, meditation and much much more to look at who we really are and help you get back to your pure creative spirit.

We spend so much of our time distracted with trying to resolve our identity, and Maya Gandaia is an opportunity to break out of that illusionary focus (living to survive) to moving to the highest vibrations where we thrive and CREATE!

Our first retreat is to Thailand in December: we will spend 8 days and 7 nights in the beautiful Chiang Mai.

This is a retreat like no other. I will be delivering the FULL Path For Series for the first time, as well as many other amazing activities in a luxury 5* homestay.

In Thailand, we will also have a daily (optional) meditation for the earlybird, afternoon yoga (5 days of Kundalini classes to complement the Path For workshops, plus vinyasa classes on the first and last days), 2 massages, a herbal steam, delicious food and juices to give your immune system a boost, airport transfers, visits to the mountains, waterfalls, lanna wooden houses, coffee plantations, temples, cookery school and more!

Places are limited to 11, and the early bird deal of £1500 is available until the 15th June. Apply Here.

Read more about the retreat and see photos of the beautiful beds, swimming pool and grounds here

The Masks We Wear
Vamos Festival, Costuminati and myself are collaborating to present an exciting opportunity for young women in Leeds which starts this Thursday!⠀
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀
“The Masks We Wear” is a project for young women to explore public and private identity through dance and costume.

With funding support from Leeds Inspired, part of Leeds City Council we are selected a group of young women aged 16-26 who will develop a performance and costumes to be premiered at ¡VAMOS! Leeds Festival 2019.⠀

Alysson Bruno is returning to Bristol!Alysson Bruno is a musician, dancer, composer, producer and music director from São Paulo, Brazil, born and raised in the religion of Candomblé of the Ketu nation.

With the purpose of connecting the symbology of the dances of the Orixás with its musicality, “Musicality of Movement” is a workshop to create a communication between music and dance to tell a story.

Saturday 15th June 11 am till 2 pm at DMAC UK, 80 Stoke’s Croft, Bristol Read more

Adiós, Adeus, ìkíni ti ìpínyà, Au Revoir, 再见, Much love,
Ella

And the whole team:

Anna, Azara, Hsing Ya, Lucia, Rachel, David, Franck, Milton, Isaac, Elsabet, Laura (and everyone else from the Ella Mesma Company family: we wish you the all the best!)

Thank you for reading!

Have a wonderful month and see you on the dance floor soon!

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