Ela Mesma Company

Dispora Dance Theatre

April Updates

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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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