A Dance & Circus Theatre Company
It is very important for me to acknowledge with gratitude the dance forms that my work is informed by: many dances from the Afrikan diaspora. I also want to acknowledge the painful history of colonialism and enslaved people that has led to the creation of these diasporic dances and commit to honoring and respecting them and their history, also acknowledging all the unrecognised cultural lineages and stories that are untold. For this reason I like to speak of the lineage of the dances, as well as my teachers often, and you will find references to these styles I work with on each show.
Here is my journey:
I Salsa (I started in Bristol in 1997! And my teachers include Angel Ortiz (rip) in NYC & Pexava in London)
Samba (I started in Bristol in 2002! I have paraded for London School as Rainha and in Rio for Alegria da Zona Sul as Passista)
Yoga (Leeds 2003 I have done teacher training with Embodied Dancer, Karam Kriya School but had many teachers!)
Middle Eastern dance (Bristol 2004 with Medea Mahdavi)
Afro Cuban (Bognor Regis!!! 2004 1st class with Iris De Brito then mainly Miguel Gonzalez & Luanda Pau)
Afro Brasilian (Brazil in 2005 at Circo Picolino then main teacher Denilson Owulafemi at Funceb/online)
Aerial silks (Brazil in 2005 then main teacher Claire Harvey)
Contemporary (Leeds in 2006 with Merville Jones then mainly Laban/The Place/The Graham School)
Breaking (Birmingham in 2007 mainly Bgirl Rokafella in NYC & Kev (Dj Renegade) in the UK
Popping (London in 2007 with Fred Realness
House (I started in London in 2008 mainly with Uchena)
Waacking (London in 2008 with Uchenna)
Capoeira (London in 2009 mainly with Ponciano
Ashtanga (I started in Newcastle with Mileva Donachie
Flamenco (I started in Newcastle in 2015 then mainly Flamenco De Leeds & a teacher in Capetown)
Haitian dance styles (NYC with Peniel Guerrier 2017)
Kundalini (Birmingham 2018)
Wing Chun (London 2023 on Okan with Damien & Leo)
Thank you! Ella xxx
Denilson Owulafemi
Alegria da Zona Sul
London School Of Samba
Arnaldo Cruz
Militsa Stojanovic
Lubi Jovanovic
Angel Ortiz
Eddie Torres
Miguel Gonzalez
Aleida De La Serna
Gil Prado, Shelly Cook & Yamulee
Luanda Pau & Domingo Pau
Sami Rodrigues
Moe Flex
Iris de Brito
Fadi K
Ozzy Shine & Dani K
Ivan Girard
Lubi Jovanovic
Joseph Davids
Philip Charles
Pedro Coimbra
Circo Picolino
Claire Harvey
Upswing (Vicki Dela Amedume)
Greentop
Leeds Children’s Circus
London Circus School
Paper Doll Militia
Jessica Jay
Rokafella
Kwikstep
Sunanda Biswas
Renegade
Gavin Vincent
Breakin’ Convention (Jonzi D)
Breaking Cycles (Benji Reid)
PMT Studios (Pavan Thimmaiah)
Speedy
Marso Candida
Merville Jones
Denapoli Clarke
Laban (Julia Gleich)
The Graham School
London School Of Contemporary Dance (Hilary Stainsby)
Helen Wilson
Ayo Jones
Pearl Chesterman
Ponciano Almeida
Mestre Valdir
Mestre Jose Antonio Almeida
Vicki Igbokwe
Yael Karavan
Yogi Bhajan: His Grandfather, Virsa Singh, Sant Hazara Singh. Kundalini is influenced by Shaktism & Tantra as well as many aspects of Sikhism
Sri K Pattabhi Jois: Sri T Krishnamacharya
Sherin Warren: William Whitecloud
William Whitecloud: Robert Fritz, ???
Mooji: Papaji: Bhagwan Sri Ramana Maharshi: Parashara
Merville Jones: Nadine Senior
Betty Martin: Harry Faddis
Alchemy
Pachamama
Mother Aya
Alva
William Whitecloud
Ryan Pinnock
Tami Kent
Julija Kubova
Sherin Warren
Anne K Scott
Robyn Danzen & Betty Martin
Emily Fletcher
Ira Calixto
Maya Gandaia
Canay Atalay
My Guides (Spirit, Animal, Angel & Land)
Jyoti Ryder
Abby Hoffman
Angad Kaur
Mileva Donachie
Joey Miles
Karam Kriya School (Yogi Bhajan, Shiv Sharan)
Siendo (Margaret Rosaria)
Sri K Patthabbi Jois
Susana Barataki
Yoga Trapeze
Leeds University
Tami Kent
Andrea Clusen
Pierpaola Volpones
Gerhard Hesse
Alexandre Paulain
Betty Martin
Robyn Dalzen
Hans Holter Solhjell
Martha Cuffy
Alva
William Whitecloud
Mooji Baba
Lubi Jovanovic
De Nappoli Clarke
Abby Hoffman
Ira Calixto
Rokafella
My Family
Ama Rouge
Akeim Toussaint
Marv Radio
Anna Clasper
Karla Thomas
Dani Byars
Nyrah Andrade & Judah
Dora Da Cruz
Leyla Okhai
Aisha Malik
Ahmad Jooma
Leah Francis
Azara Meghie
Hsing Ya Wu
Rama Ma
Emma Houston
Joey Odro
Patricía Verity Suarez
Patrick Ziza
David Evans
Lia Rodrigues
Myriam Gadri
Meera Patel
Ruth Lorna King
Zeina Hechme & Elisa Aloe
Eneyi Pemu & Emi Okazaki
Raony Penteado
Alexandre Paulain
Beverley Thomas
Jane McClean
My Mandala
Element Arts Family
Jyoti Ryder
Influencers & authors who have contributed to my growth
Layla Saad
Nadia Gilani
Dianne Bondy
Toni Morrison
Alice Walker
Carolyn Elliot
Robert Fritz
Joe Dispenza
Ally Boothroyd
Judi Sion & Tom Kenyon
Queen Afua
Dr Jewel Pookrum
Terarai Trent
Ichi Lee
James Redfield
Muata Ashby
Oprah Winfrey
(this list is ever-growing if I have missed someone you are still in my heart!)
Thank you to everyone who has been a part of this JOY Journey (You too!!!)
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
