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Ella Mesma Company

Leading Diaspora Dance Theatre in the UK.

About

“We delight in the beauty of the butterfly, but rarely admit the changes it has gone through to achieve that beauty.” Maya Angelou

Diversity in stories matters.

Growing up in a small town in England, I didn’t see many superheroes that looked like my mixed family (I am white British and Black Nigerian).

I wanted to create a diverse company that celebrated dance styles from the diaspora and challenged aspects of our society and its beliefs. 

It was from this space that Ella Mesma Company was born.

With the company, I strive to create beautiful, inspiring diaspora dance theatre to allow transformation through the honouring of our values and wellbeing as a company and the telling of personal and global stories. I believe this kind of environment supports us to connect to our truest selves and as a result to create powerful, personal and political work that also is in resonance with Mother Earth works in harmony with the planet. Where possible I try to use recycled materials and minimise our carbon footprint as a company.

There are five values at the heart of the work:

Our Values

Imagination – Our company creates spaces to dream, imagine, and envision new futures. In our interactive, family-friendly performances, creativity, play, and curiosity take centre stage. 

Love – Infusing love and joy into every step, story, and interaction, we move from the heart. We care deeply for each other, ourselves, and Mother Earth.

Quiet Activism – We inspire change through dance, performance, and creativity, using them as powerful mediums for personal and collective healing and liberation. 

Intuition – Trusting and following our inner voice and instinct, we invite intuition to guide both our creative work and our personal journeys. Performers often shape-shift into characters to find their true essence.

Transformation –We cultivate transformation by honouring our values, the well-being of our artists, and our personal and global stories. We grow through community and connection. Dance, for us, is a healing ritual.

Contribution – Everyone’s contribution is respected and valued, empowering free, authentic, and unapologetic expression. We create supportive, held spaces where everyone – artists and audiences – are free to be themselves. 

Honouring –  Deeply honouring the ancient wisdom, spiritual traditions (hyperlink to folkloric dances page – see notes below), and cultural heritage (hyperlink to lineage) that shape our dances and identities, we carry them forward with love and care. Our work respects both the recognised and unrecognised African roots and lineages of all folkloric dance styles (hyperlink to dance styles). We honour the painful colonial histories that led to the creation of these diasporic dances. We are committed to learning, growing, and striving for the truth in everything we do.

Ella

It’s great to meet you here!

I’m Ella, and my pronouns are she/her or they/them. I’m a Multidisciplinary Artist, Choreographer, Movement Specialist, Accredited Coach, Published Author, Teacher, and the Director of Ella Mesma Company.

Trained in Afro-Latin, breaking and contemporary dance, my work is deeply inspired by Afro-Cuban and Afro-Brazilian traditions, particularly the Orishas, Yoruba deities that I have studied for 20 years, and that guide much of my movement style.

I take a holistic approach to creativity, working from a place of self-connection, bravery, and purpose. Having navigated the trauma of rape in my 20s and toxic environments in the dance world, my mission is to infuse joy, love, and healing into the company and every piece we create.

Through my work and coaching, I empower individuals to break free from limiting beliefs, embrace their cultural and social identities, and reconnect with their authentic selves, inspiring both performers and audiences to find their way back HOME to their true nature!

As a person of Black Nigerian and white British heritage, I’m passionate about ensuring the stories we tell at Ella Mesma Company amplify underrepresented superhero(ine) voices, and am committed to making dance accessible to people without a traditional theatre background. I’m super inspired by dance as a healing ritual and a gateway to transformation and positive change!

I also teach a range of classes, from dynamic technique sessions to trauma-informed wellbeing workshops. I’m a published author, and my book A Journal to Joy shares an 11-minute daily practice and transformative tools to help readers connect with their intuition and achieve their highest goddxx-like potential! I offer 1-2-1 Coaching, courses on Imposter Syndrome for Artists, Embodied Alchemy and Creating from Intuition, and run a free Creativity Circle for creative accountability. I’d love to see you there!

Read OUR EMC timeline BELOW

ELLA MESMA COMPANY TIMELINE

Since its formation in 2011, with a premiere at Breakin’ Convention (Sadler’s Wells), the have been commissioned and performed for a number of leading arts organisations and 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), 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). 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 and a resident at Pervasive Media Studio. The company were runners up for the ‘Best Dance Production of The Year’ by the Latino Life LUKAS Awards 2018. In 2019, the company were comissioned to perform Ladylike in Hull and Ella became a Slate World artist. In 2020, just before lockdown began, Ella became an Associate Artist at PDSW and got very creative about what that looked like. Ella was also commissioned to make a show for the Little Amal project at the Manchester International Festival. In 2022, Maya and Toussaint (a collaboration with Akeim Toussaint Buck) was born and the creation of Okan as Choreodrome artists began. Ella is currently Associate at Open Source Arts in Leeds and is touring The Rainbow Butterfly whilst also creating A Jellyfish Love Song and beginning early stages of the creation of Indra’s Web.

  • Our journey began in 2011 with a premiere at Breakin’ Convention (Sadler’s Wells): a solo called Evol (Love backwards).
  • In 2012, Ella was selected as a future Dance Leader for the ABLE leadership program.
  • In 2013, Ella made a solo; Ecdysis with Anthony Egea of Compagnie Revolution
  • The company officially formed as Ela Mesma Company in 2014 with a piece called Orixás which premiered at The Place.
  • In 2015, Ella was awarded a Bench fellowship for emerging choreographers.
  • Ela Mesma Company were residents with Casa Latin American Festival in 2015
  • Ella was Associate Artist at Dance City (2017)​
  • EMC first performed their own evening of work at Sadler’s Wells with a Wildcard in 2017 (Guerreras)
  • Ela Mesma Company were comissioned by the National Circus Centre (2018) to create Papyllon
  • Ella & Hsing Ya Wu travelled for the Women’s International Leadership Conference, New York City in 2017 to perform Ladylike
  • Ella travelled to the ICA Festival, Capetown South Africa (2018) to perform Papyllon
  • Ella was Associate Artist at Trinity Centre Bristol (2018)​
  • The company were runners up for the ‘Best Dance Production of The Year’ by the Latino Life LUKAS Awards 2018.​
  • Ela Mesma Company were commissioned at the IETM in Hull (2019) to perform Ladylike
  • Ella was commissioned as a Slate World Artist (2019)
  • Ella became a Pervasive Media Studio Resident (2020)
  • Ela Mesma Company became Company in Residence for 2020-21 at Pavillion Dance South West (where we are now a Supported Artist)
  • Ella was Commissioned by The Place as part of Choreodrome with Akeim Toussaint (New Collaborations) in 2022
  • Ella was commissioned to choreograph on various UK companies and academic institutions
  • The company received ACE funding for The Rainbow Butterfly to be realised as a 55 minute show and for outdoor work
  • Ella was commissioned to choreograph on various UK companies and academic institutions
  • The company received ACE funding for Okan a duet by Ella Mesma and Akeim Toussaint in 2023

Testimonials

Unabashedly emotional
Sanjoy RoyThe Guardian
Amazing, powerful energy in abundance
Dr Nathalie TeitlerDancing Words
She really pushes the form beyond battles and bravado
William DrewExeunt Magazine
Ella Mesma has a holistic approach to creativity, creating from a space of connectivity to self and purpose
Elsabet Yonas Dance Artist
Carrying that vital spark of originality
Graham Watts Chairman of Critics’ Circle Dance Section UK
The students really enjoyed both workshop and performance and found it interesting and inspiring
Antonio BorielloPhoenix Youth Academy Coordinator
The students really enjoyed both workshop and performance and found it interesting and inspiring
Antonio BorielloPhoenix Youth Academy Coordinator
Ladylike should be compulsory watching for the world
Chris Megginson Yorkshire Dance
F***ing brilliant. Very moving
Audience MemberOffbeat Festival
An absurd, comical, and emotionally charged ritual of dance theatre
Bristol 24/7
Totally swept away by the powerful performances of the four women! They do represent a diaspora of desires, fears and heroism
Casa Festival 2019South Social Film Fest
The MMMM classes were an absolute tonic during lockdown and beyond
It has improved my basic technique and gotten me back into dancing and feeling rhythms again and moving in a way that works for me.
I love the openness of the class as well as the structured exercises that we add our own flavour too. Looking forward to more!
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Ella Mesma Company

We create magic experiences using a diverse range of folkloric styles & aerial silks to bring the stories that we would love to have seen growing up to life

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