Ella Mesma is a British born dancer, curator and choreographer who draws from a number of styles and traditions including Afro Cuban, Hip Hop and Aerial dance. She trained at Laban and the London School of Contemporary Dance, receiving an MA in Dance, and is a qualified yoga teacher. Independently she has worked for Russell Maliphant Company, Southpaw, Lea Anderson, the Olympics Opening Ceremony and many more. In 2011 she began focusing on her choreographic process and so formed Ella Mesma Company: an Afro-Latin and Hip Hop dance theatre company that undoes limiting beliefs by exploring and celebrating identity.
She has been commissioned by leading arts organisations, was selected as a future Dance Leader for ABLE in 2013, awarded a Bench fellowship in 2015, was resident company with Casa Latin American Festival in 2016, Associate Dance Artist at Dance City in 2017, and IGNITE Artist at Trinity Centre Bristol in 2017.
Mesma’s piece Ladylike was nominated for best production with the Lukas awards 2018. Ella has also curated and organised Roots of Rumba in London since 2013, and in 2018 co-produced a festival called ‘She Created Her Life’ with Tichea Brade. She has also enjoys mentoring, teaching and directing roles and loves yoga, art (especially street art), poetry and books.
Twitter: @ellamesma