Category: Blog

June News

By Ella Mesma
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!⠀
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“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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Our mysterious May news…

By Ella Mesma
Ẹ n lẹ! Salut! Olá! Hello! 你好!

Thanks for stopping by for our updates beautiful humans: we hope you enjoy them and we wish you a magic May! Our April was especially mystical because we had some photos come out of our sharings last month with what look like light beings in the back ground! They are too magic to share on social media but do ask us when you see us!

Below you can read more (or head to our website to find out more) about:

LADYLIKE in London Town this summer
FOREIGN BODIES: An Underwater Love Story R & D in April
THE MASKS WE WEAR Call out for performers
TEACHING dates for the summer months

We always love to hear from you: If you want us to bring a show or class to you, if you would like help you on your creative journey or you have questions about our workshops… please get in touch anytime!

Much love,
Ella xxx
Ladylike will be back in LONDON TOWN for 4 whole days in July! 
It was such a special experience for me to revive the show last month and also step out as a dancer and bring in the wonderful Lucia Afonso! So I am very excited and honoured to be able to bring this version to London this summer: Thanks Casa festival for hosting us! More info coming next month but pencil the dates! 16,18,19, 20th July!

Here is an audience quote: “Ladylike should be compulsory watching for the world” Chris Megginson
R&D completed for Foreign Bodies phase two
Thank you everyone who contributed to our crowd funder! To Arts Council, to all the amazing venues (Trinity & Metal) who housed us during this R&D in two cities (Bristol and Liverpool), and to every single artist involved… It really was an incredible process… from the underwater fotoshoot with Jessia Mitchell (by the way we have included a very sneak preview foto for this community: so hot of the press it hasn’t made it off the computer screen yet), to the sharing, to dinner at St Mary’s Kitchen in Bristol… it was just full of huge hearts and talent! Thank you everyone who helped make this absolute dream come true!

So what next? We are still short on our budget so now it is back to bid writing to get the extra we need to make our set… but we do have an hour long show, a script, a full sound track by composer Sabio Janiak, costumes by Sabrina Henry, photos by Earth Motion and an absolutely amazing cast! Programmers if you would like to see our first ever sharing please get in touch! Dance audiences: maybe you caught us at the Croydon Dance festival last weekend? We will be bringing another extract to Birmingham this summer for the Festival of Audacity (plus workshops!) (More information next month)
CALL OUT! For female dancers aged 16-25 to perform to 2000 people!
Vamos Festival, Costuminati and myself are collaborating to present an exciting opportunity for young women in Leeds!⠀
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With funding support from Leeds Inspired, part of Leeds City Council we are seeking 12 young women aged 16-25 who will develop a performance and costumes to be premiered at ¡VAMOS! Leeds Festival 2019.⠀
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“The Masks We Wear” is a project for young women to explore public and private identity through dance and costume. A series of workshop sessions will take place in June and July leading to the opportunity to perform at Millennium Square as part of ¡VAMOS! Leeds Festival (Sunday 21 July 2019).⠀
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The Masks We Wear explores our identity on and off stage, in private and in public. Sometimes the performance we put on in life can be more restrictive than our stage performance: from how technology has allowed us to create and reinvent a self-image, to the sides of our persona we choose to show or to edit out.⠀
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During phase 1 of this project, Ella Mesma Company, a dance theatre company with a background in carnival and contemporary dance will work with young women dancers, to talk makeup, filters and masks and explore the shadows that we hide from ourselves.⠀
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During phase 2 the young artists will work with Renata Gordon, the lead artist from Costuminati and one of the North’s best Carnival costume designers known for combining traditional materials with textiles and technical pattern cutting.⠀
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The Masks We Wear is part of ¡VAMOS! Festival 2019 ⠀
This year it takes place in North East England and Leeds.⠀
¡VAMOS! North East: 11-14 July 2019 – various NE locations ⠀
¡VAMOS! Leeds: 21 July 2019 – MIllenium Square, Leeds⠀
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¡VAMOS! Festival is supported with funding from Arts Council England, Newcastle City Council, Community Foundation, National Lottery Heritage Fund, Leeds Inspired, part of Leeds City Council, Wades Charity, Instituto Cervantes, Pura Panela and Revolution de Cuba
TEACHING: Classes and workshops: The end of the HOME Series, season, a Women’s Group with Barbara Godoy and the BENCH Bitesized
HOME Series:
What is the HOME Series? Think of it as a beautiful path to come home to your authentic self inspired by the chakra system but explained and demonstrated simply using dance and imagination. I originally developed the content of the HOME series  workshops on my company to facilitate the telling of the performers stories and dealing with all the stuff that comes up in the studio in a way that was healing and affirming and still helped the dancers access the beautiful place of vulnerability where all magic happens.
Now they are workshops for all, and here are the last few dates:
4th May: WOMB at Yorkshire Dance, Leeds
11th May: WOMB at Siendo, Lisbon
23rd April-4th June: Also join me for a Kundalini Yoga class: Journey through the Chakras at Ookushana, Leeds
HOME Series Retreats: Fancy coming on retreat with us? We are busy creating… if you already know you would like to reserve a spot, hit us an email now.
Quotes from Class: “You bring a lot of calm and safety to the room, holding space for everyone and making us comfortable and connected quite easily. I really enjoyed the fact that it mixed a lot of different techniques and influences, giving us opportunities to use our bodies, minds, voices, theatrical skills… And I also liked the fact that it had strong spiritual/ self-love and self-care element without being too serious. Laughter and dance all the way!” Melanie Berard, London

The BENCH Bitesize:
2Faced Dance Company presents The BENCH Bitesize: Surrey
Supported by People Dancing
Now in its fourth year, The BENCH is going on the road…
Join @2Faceddance and guests (including moi!) at Guildford School of Acting at the University of Surrey on Saturday 1 June for a one-day, bitesize edition of their game-changing programme: The BENCH. Meet and hear from 7 inspirational female creators and industry professionals; address issues, make actions and leave with enhanced skills, confidence and knowledge to make the next move.
Join the Facebook Event here: https://www.facebook.com/events/292573194964938/

Barbara Godoy: 9 Greek Muses
I will be guest teaching on Barbara Godoy’s Women’s Group in London over the next few months. This One Year programme is an exploration of assumptions about the meaning of being a woman through awareness intensive practises such as: family constellation, dynamic meditation, bio-energetics, psychodrama, authentic movement, catharsis, touch, feedback and sharing, all inspired by the 9 Greek Muses. If you would like to know more write to me here and I will put you in touch with the team.
Adiós, Adeus, ìkíni ti ìpínyà, Au Revoir, 再见 

And that is all for this month. I am super excited to get my salsa on this weekend at Mambo City and see lots of my international dancer friends!

Thanks to everyone who has attended class, donated to the crowd funder, written to me personally with feedback etc etc: I have absolutely loved working and connecting with you!

Love from the whole team:

Ella, Anna, Azara, Hsing Ya, Lucia, Rachel, David, Franck, Milton, Isaac, Elsabet, Laura (and everyone else at Ella Mesma Company!)
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April Updates

By Ella Mesma

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Ẹ n lẹ! Salut! Olá! Hello! Waaaaaah!

April is exciting! Here are our updates in brief:

IETM (We just performed a sold out show at the International network for contemporary performing arts)
We got our Arts Council funding and start tomorrow in Liverpool at Metal… plus a sharing and an underwater photoshoot
Crowd Funder (We invite you to contribute to our photoshoot)
We got a Leeds Inspired Grant for a project for young women called The Masks We Wear
We have some exciting new classes, coming up, plus a discount code for newsletter readers
I will be leading a session at Bench Bitesize at Kala Sangam
Coaching results announced

Below you can read more, or head to our website to find out more. Have a wonderful April

We would love to hear from you, bring a show or class to you, help you on your creative journey or see you in our workshops soon.

Much love,

Ella xxx
IETM: Ladylike came back to life! And we were sold out!
It was such a special experience for me to revive the show but also step out as a dancer and bring in the wonderful Lucia Afonso! it felt great to have all eyes on the work and be able to bring hope to this powerful piece about sisterhood, and breaking out of the stories and stereotypes that don’t serve us.

Missed it? Here is the full performance plus Q&A from Hull, or just watch the original short trailer to catch the highlights! https://vimeo.com/327961512

Thank you to all of the awesome IETM team especially Chris, Rebecca, Sami and Albert Meijer, Caroline Burn who audio described the piece, our new friend Danielle of EJC Cajuput Oils, Graham Roberts who helped us bring the skypans back, Ferens Art Gallery, and all the awesome audience!

Here is an audience quote:“Ladylike should be compulsory watching for the world” Chris Megginson
Arts Council Funding: Foreign Bodies: An underwater love story
We are super happy to announce that we got our funding and will be going into R&D phase 2 for our immersive technology jellyfish love story.

Told through the narration of our host Milton Lopes, Foreign Bodies is a love story which takes place underwater. Using the metaphor of Jellyfish and beautiful lights, ‘Foreign Bodies’ looks at fear vs love: using medical understandings of disease and media references around migration to explore the experience of ‘other’ and to allow love to overcome racism. It is also an interactive anonymous quiz show developed with Gentlemen Octopus Limited that explores what it means to be a citizen of the world: taking samples of citizenship tests to create the ultimate quiz with a twist.

Thank you to everyone who helped make this possible, and we are excited to spend a week in Liverpool at Metal, and a week in Bristol at Trinity Centre… didn’t receive your invite to our sharing? Let us know and we will send you an invitation!
Crowd Funding Campaign
Want to donate towards our underwater photoshoot planned for the Easter weekend? Follow this link: https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/foreign-bodies-an-underwater-love-shoot
Leeds Inspired Grant: The Masks We Wear
Watch this space for more information: We will be announcing a call out very soon for 12 young women to take part in a partnership with Vamos Festival Leeds and a very talented costume designer exploring the masks we put on in our every day life…
New Classes: HOME Series, Women’s Group and the BENCH Bitesized
What is the HOME Series? Think of it as a beautiful path to come home to your authentic self!

I originally developed the content of the HOME series  workshops to facilitate the telling of the performers stories and dealing with all the stuff that comes up in the studio in a way that was healing and affirming. They have evolved into a series of 7 movement meditations inspired by the chakra system. (Read more here):

Upcoming Workshops:

13th April: Join 2Faced Dance Company and guests Rebecca Evans, Louise Katerega, Ella Mesma and Alex Croft at Kala Sangam  Ella Mesma Session: How we deal with conflict in the studio. Looking at the psychology and interpersonal skills needed to manage relationships.

14th April: SACRED at Trinity, Bristol : Pleasure and Shadows

“I live in a queendom, ruled by a womb-iverse.” Erykah Badu

Connecting to our divine feminine wisdom, SACRED was inspired by the Sacral Chakra (Svadhisthana), SACRED is a transformative women’s only workshop to worship you! SACRED uses fertility dances, yoga and explorative dance to explore and experience our emotions, the ‘shoulds’ and ‘should nots’, pleasure and boundaries in an unashamed and delicious way. *Wear Orange

15-19th April: Join us for Company Class in Bristol! £4 or pay for all five sessions for £15

23rd April-4th June: Join me for a Kundalini Yoga class: Journey through the Chakras at Ookushana, Leeds

28th April: CREATE at The Place, London (This will be the last one in London for a while as I will be going into a space to create new content and retreat for a while so grab your space quick!)

4th May: SACRED at Yorkshire Dance, Leeds

11th May: SACRED at Siendo, Lisbon

Here is a special discount to the London classes for Newsletter readers: http://bit.ly/2U3hfkI

Retreats: Fancy coming on retreat with us? Watch this space…

Quotes from Class: “The knowledge she gave, the vibe created and being able to access the “Home” place we so regularly forget about and overlook, all led to a soul warming and fulfilling experience. I would highly recommend all artists from any background to take Ella’s workshops” Kiran Kumar, Student, Leeds

“You bring a lot of calm and safety to the room, holding space for everyone and making us comfortable and connected quite easily. Your workshop was really playful which I think is so important and I really enjoyed the fact that it mixed a lot of different techniques and influences, giving us opportunities to use our bodies, minds, voices, theatrical skills… And I also liked the fact that it had strong spiritual/ self-love and self-care element without being too serious. Laughter and dance all the way!” Melanie Berard, London
Coaching announced
Thank you for all the applications: We have written to you all personally, and now are excited to announce the winner of a year long partnership of Coaching to unleash creativity goes to…. Danielle Byars who has just launched her new products of Lioness Wellness this month! We will be checking in with Danielle on her project next month…
And that is all for this month. We have honestly loved sharing the dance floor with you (Especially everyone at the Joburg Afro Latin Congress: what a magical experience!)

Thanks to everyone who has attended class, written to me personally with feedback: I have absolutely loved working with you!

Thank you for having us Dance Studio Leeds, and to everyone at Yorkshire Dance who have supported the magic of March. Above is a picture from the awesome Dance On project I am part of in Leeds taken at Toast Love Coffee an awesome project in Harehills.
Thank you for reading!

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

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March Updates

By Ella Mesma
Ẹ n lẹ! Salut! Olá! Hello!

Welcome all our friends and supporters: Here are our March updates in brief:

IETM
Classes, Workshops and a discount code for newsletter readers
South Africa
Bench Bitesize
Arts Council

Below you can read more, or head to our website to find out the nitty gritty details!

Have a wonderful March into Spring (with a little snow, hail and sunshine too)!

We would love to hear from you, help you on your creative journey and see you in our workshops soon!

Much love,

Ella xxx
Foreign Bodies: An underwater love story
We are super happy to announce that we got our funding and will be going into R&D phase 2 for our immersive technology jellyfish love story! Thank you to everyone who helped make this possible, and we are excited to spend a week in Liverpool at Metal, and a week in Bristol at Trinity Centre
Upcoming Workshops: HOME Series and the BENCH Bitesized
I originally developed the content of the HOME series  workshops to facilitate the telling of the performers stories in a way that was healing and affirming. They have evolved into a series of 7 movement meditations inspired by the chakra system.

Chakras are the centres in our bodies in which energy flows through: if they are blocked this keeps us from flowing freely in our lives, for example feeling grounded, our ability to accept others and new experiences, our ability to be confident and in control of our lives, our ability to love and be loved.

We all have our natural and unique talents to share with the world, and I love draw these out in everyone: coming home to who we are through imagination and how we move authentically! (Read more here):

16th-17th March: Joburg Afro Latin Festival , Johannesburg, South Africa

31st March: SING at The Place, London

13th April: Join 2Faced Dance Company and guests Rebecca Evans, Louise Katerega, Ella Mesma and Alex Croft at Kala Sangam 

14th April: SACRED at Trinity, Bristol

28th April: CREATE at The Place, London

4th May: SACRED at Yorkshire Dance, Leeds

11th May: SACRED at Siendo, Lisbon

Here is a special discount to the London classes for Newsletter readers: http://bit.ly/2U3hfkI

I will also be leading a 7 week Kundalini course at Ookushana: more information coming soon: watch this space…
IETM: We will be flapping our wings once more!
(Photo above by Anna Miller from Harambee Pasadia)

We are super excited to announce that Ladylike is back!

Dancers Azara Meghie, Hsing Ya Wu, Anna Alvarez and Lucia Afonso and choreographer Ella Mesma will be bringing back Ladylike next month at the IETM in Hull!

Come and join us? Ladylike is a superheroines journey about gender roles and relationships: Are you a chicken or are you a heroine? In the wake of #MeToo comes a funny and furious show from Ella Mesma Company.

https://www.ietm.org/en/ietm-hull-plenary-meeting-2019/session/ladylike-ella-mesma
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2019: February: IETM, South Africa, HOME Series…

By Ella Mesma

Ẹ n lẹ! Salut! Olá! Hello!

Welcome all our friends and supporters and thank you for your patience with our February updates and news: boy have we been busy!

Here are our updates in brief:

IETM…
Classes, Workshops and a discount code for newsletter readers
South Africa…

Below you can read more, or head to our website to find out the nitty gritty details!

Have a wonderful march into Spring!

We would love to hear from you, help you on your being human journey and see you in our workshops soon!

Much love,

IETM: We will be flapping our wings once more!

(Photo above by Anna Miller from Harambee Pasadia)

We are super excited to announce that Ladylike is back!

Dancers Azara Meghie, Hsing Ya Wu, Anna Alvarez and Lucia Afonso and choreographer Ella Mesma will be bringing back Ladylike next month at the IETM in Hull!

Come and join us? Ladylike is a superheroines journey about gender roles and relationships: Are you a chicken or are you a heroine? In the wake of #MeToo comes a funny and furious show from Ella Mesma Company.

https://www.ietm.org/en/ietm-hull-plenary-meeting-2019/session/ladylike-ella-mesma

Upcoming Workshops: HOME Series and The Masks We Wear

I originally developed the content of the HOME series workshops to facilitate the telling of the performers stories in a way that was healing and affirming. They have evolved into a series of 7 movement meditations inspired by the chakra system.

Chakras are the centres in our bodies in which energy flows through: if they are blocked this keeps us from flowing freely in our lives, for example feeling grounded, our ability to accept others and new experiences, our ability to be confident and in control of our lives, our ability to love and be loved.

We all have our natural and unique talents to share with the world, and I love draw these out in everyone: coming home to who we are through imagination and how we move authentically! (Read more here):

24th February: WOMB at The Place, London TIMES: 16.00-18.00

2nd March: HOME at Siendo Art of Being, Lisbon

8th March: The Masks We Wear at Encounters at Yorkshire Dance, Leeds (Enquire here)

31st March: SING at The Place, London

14th April: WOMB at Trinity, Bristol

28th April: CREATE at The Place, London

Here is a special discount for Newsletter readers: http://bit.ly/2U3hfkI

I also teach a regular yoga class at https://theyogaspace.co.uk/
Teaching at the Afro Latin Festival in Johannesburg, South Africa

I will be teaching at the Johannesburg Afro Latin Festival 14 – 17 March 2019! alongside an incredible line up of artists!

I am super excited to return to SA after a wonderful six weeks there this summer and to be teaching at such an incredible festival: The Johannesburg Afro Latin Festival is about bringing cultures, nations, races and age-groups together through afro-latin music and dance and celebrating the energy and regeneration of johannesburg, otherwise known as ‘Jozi’… read more about the line up, co founders and more below:

http://www.afrolatinfestival.co.za/

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