SIREN 

Duration: 25 minutes
Commissioned by: American India Foundation, New England Chapter 
Dancers: Mesma Belsaré and Ramya Shankaran
Concept, Choreography, Costumes & Soundscape: Mesma Belsaré

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Like a wild bird's call piercing through chaos, SIREN awakens the voice within that urges us toward compassion and collective action. Through four scenes depicting displacement, separation, loss, and war, the duet refuses to let us forget we are one world, one humanity.

Inspired by poetry from Rabindranath Tagore, Robert Burns, Helen Neale, and Rudyard Kipling, the work weaves music by Maurice Ravel, T. Keshavan, Pandit Bhavani Shankar, and Bejjanki Krishna into a contemporary movement vocabulary rooted in Indian classical technique.

Created for the American India Foundation's mission to improve lives of India's underprivileged—with focus on women, children, and youth.

 

"Simply outstanding, world class. This performance needs to be seen by more folks in many places." – Audience response​

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Shilpa Natanam (The Dancing Sculptures)

Shilpa Natanam is a dance genre born from the fifteen-year artistic collaboration between Mesma Belsaré and her mentor Dr. Maya Kulkarni. What began as an experiment has evolved into a movement vocabulary that honors ancient wisdom while speaking to contemporary experience.

The New York Times described the work as "a virtuoso number" (August 2018). Narthaki.com wrote: "Each piece was a testament to the style's ability to translate static ideas into dynamic, living art...Kulkarni's vision, combined with Mesma Belsaré's exceptional theatrical and physical abilities, transported the audience into a realm where movement, narrative, and visual art converged seamlessly." (February 2025). The Telangana Reuters called it "an extraordinary presentation...a testament to the human body's potential to transcend the ordinary." (January 2025).

 

Foundation and Philosophy

Rooted in Sanskrit texts—the Natyashastra, Abhinayadarpana, and Shilpa Shastra—this genre steps deliberately outside traditional classical repertory. Classical Chola, Mathura, and Gandhara sculptures, alongside Ajanta cave paintings, inspire not merely the choreography but the entire aesthetic conception: costume design, hair, and makeup (āhārya). The innovation lies in transforming sculptural stillness into kinetic poetry. Stone becomes flesh, and classical iconography awakens in contemporary bodies.

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Repertory

Works from this evolving body include:

• Pāda Bhedāh – Theatrical exploration of foot-positions common to both classical sculptures and dance

• Mohini – Vishnu's transformation into the seductive enchantress

• Krishnakaranāmritam – Fresh interpretation of Līlā Shuka's devotional verses

• Ardhanārīśwara – Parallels between the half-Śiva-half-Umā iconography and the Nāsadīya Sūkta (Hymn of Creation) from the Rig Veda (c.1700 B.C.E.)

• Narasimha – Visceral portrayal of Vishnu's half-man, half-lion avatar. Narthaki.com wrote: "Mesma's portrayal of Hiranyakashipu—terrified and frozen at the sight of Narasimha—was so visceral that the audience collectively held its breath."

• Jatayu (2023–2025) – The mythical bird-king from the Ramayana, incorporating prescribed movements from 12th-century texts. The Indian Eye noted: "Mesma's incredible strength, stamina and expressions, portraying the demeanor of the bird left the audience totally amazed."

• Medea's Passion (2021)

• Plato's Allegory of the Cave (2020) – The Dance Enthusiast wrote: "...awestruck how one solo dancer could bring this story to life on stage"

• Kundalini (2021)

• Kavacham (2021)

• Dance films: Chinnamastā and In the Creator's Gaze

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Critical Recognition

In September 2018, New York dance journalist Karen Greenspan interviewed Kulkarni and Belsaré about Shilpa Natanam's creative process. The interview was published in Ballet Review: the Premier Dance Journal in 2019.

Feet on Earth Festival (Telangana, India) called the work "a masterclass in storytelling through movement...an evocative reminder that dance is not just a form of expression, but a gateway to the divine."

Narthaki.com observed: "The innovation of Shilpanatanam lies in its ability to transform the static into the dynamic and the abstract into the intangible. The portrayal of animals—fluid yet lifelike—was particularly striking, showcasing the style's ability to replicate the essence of natural elements through the human form. Even a layperson in the audience could identify each creature, a testament to the precision of choreography and performance."

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Performance History

Shilpa Natanam premiered in November 2017 at the Third Annual TriNethra Festival of Dance in Boston. Since then, the work has been presented at:

• Battery Dance Festival, NYC (2021)

• New York Public Library (2023)

• LaMama Drive East Festival (2018, 2020)

• Atlas Performing Arts Center, Washington DC (2019)

• India International Center, Delhi (2025)

• Kalakshetra Foundation, Chennai (2025)

• Feet on Earth Festival, Hyderabad, India (2025)

• New Brunswick Performing Arts Center (2024, 2025)

• Kalashraya Festival, Virginia (2025)

• Krishnamurthy Foundation, Pune (2025)

• Syracuse University, NY (2023)​

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Audience Impact

Audiences describe the work as transformative:

"Transported me to another realm...The energy was powerful, electrifying and soul cleansing."

"Your work is the medicine this world needs right now. It is uplifting and will cut through boundaries imposed by us humans, to unify us all in one space."

"It was almost impossible to blink—I feared that even a fraction of a second would cause me to miss the wonder unfolding before my eyes."

"Your postures—like a sculptor's most exquisite work, carved with the utmost care to reveal pure beauty."

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Kulkarni and Belsaré continue creating new works that expand this living repertory.

  

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The Vermin's Will (2016)

The Vermin’s Will is inspired by the ŚAIVA Siddhāntam in Mannikavāsagār’s Śiva Purānam and Psychologist Carl Jung’s studies of the human archetype. 

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An undefined being plagued by his inadequacies hovers in the space between memories of his past lives in the form of a tree, a bird and a snake. It is in the magic of Shivan’s aruL or Grace where he finds liberation from his memories, attachments and fears. In the process he identifies with three aspects of Shivan: Shivan who drank the poison that surfaced when oceans were churned, Shivan, who is inseparable from Devi: his feminine aspect and Shivan who soakes the world with the waters of the Ganga that pour from the matted locks of his hair. 

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Concept, Choreography and Costume: Mesma Belsaré

Direction: Dr. Maya Kulkarni

Music: Sadgurunatha Odhuvar, G. Balasubramaniam 

Special thanks to Dr. Robert Perinbanayagam and Dr. Anita Ratnam

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​Carmine Bees (2008, revised 2018)

Inspired by Kurukulla: the Buddhist Goddess who is adept at bewitching both men and women with her incomparable charm and sexual magnetism.

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The piece deconstructs classical idioms and re-evaluates the relationship between verse and religious iconography. Carmine Bees extols the versatility of language and erases borders that limit gender, religion and vernacular literature.

 

Conceived, designed and choreographed by Mesma S. Belsare

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Earlier Works

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Zan: Women in the Shahnameh (2010)

Premiere: Museum of Fine Arts, Boston MA

Sunday, October 17, 2010

Inspired by three distinct women characters from poet Firdowsi's Persian epic poem Shahnama.

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Conceived, choreographed and performed by Mesma Belsaré

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AKSHAH (Sanskrit, Axis) (2010)

Akshah is the axis of the dancing principle that aligns the abstract sound (music) and the material (body) on one plane; the distinction between the two disappears and music and dance become inseparable. By taking away one of the key components of dance: The FACE, this piece makes a focal shift from the traditional angika (expression through the tangible body) to the sattvika fundamentals (expression of the pure and the intangible), thereby challenging alike the dancer and her audience.

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Concept, Choreography, Dancer: Mesma Belsaré

Music and vocals: Deepti Navaratna

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50cantos

Based on the Chaurapanchasika: a set of 50 verses by the 12th century Kashmiri court poet Bilhana. Set in three distinct vignettes like a triptych, this work culls its aesthetic and gestural source from the Chaurapanchasika miniature paintings of the late Sri N.C. Mehta collection.

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Concept and Research: Padmashri Geeta Chandran

Music: Dr. Vasanthi Krishna Rao

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En-twined

En-twined is based on the classical Hindu Shaiva vision of The Ardhanarishwara (lit. Half-Woman God). En-twined revisits this duality of the male and female principles in one entity as a literary and musical motif to celebrate the ambivalence of creative forces in nature, originally envisioned by poet and philosopher Sankara (circa 788-820 AD) in the form of SHIVAA and SHIVA as being one and the same.

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Conceived, designed and choreographed by Mesma S. Belsare

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​​​UMA

Uma is a solo inspired by the eroticism and sensuality of the courtesan dancer of pre-modern South India. The work oscillates between traditional and contemporary frames and represents idealized images of woman as virgin, lover, wife and Goddess. Uma is a production of InDance company, Toronto, Canada.

World premiere at Transformations: Expressions of Gender Roles in Asian Dance at the CanAsian dance festivals, Harbourfront Centre,Toronto, Canada (2006 and 2008) and subsequent productions the Lincoln Theatre, Washington D.C. (2007) and The Lincoln Center, New York City (2008)

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Concept and Choreography: Hari Krishnan

Costume: Rex

Textual Consultant: Devesh Soneji

Special thanks to Kotipalli Hymavati (India)

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​​Unquiet Epics

Inspired by the oil paintings of M.F. Husain based on the Sanskrit epic the Mahabharata and its conflicting plots and characters, Unquiet Epics explores the tangible battle between five senses of sight, sound, touch, smell and taste of the human condition with hundred desires of the external world.

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Conceived, designed and choreographed by Mesma S. Belsare

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​One Fifth

Collaboration, Mesma S. Belsare and Hari Krishnan

One Fifth deconstructs and reconfigures pre-conceived notions of Indian dance while simultaneously exploring the fragility of human relationships using myth and the gender-ambivalent iconography of the Hindu God Shiva.

World Premiere at Fall Faculty Concert, Wesleyan University CT (2005)

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​Fire to Ice

Masters Thesis: A multimedia performance including video, sculpture, puppetry and elements of Greek theatre with classical Indian, African and Celtic music.

Premiere at Massachusetts College of Art, Boston (2004)

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Conceived, designed and directed by Mesma S. Belsare

In collaboration with live musicians and actors, this production involves puppets and requires live video projection.

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​Shilpa Nrityam

A dance production that originated from Belsaré's studies of sculpture and inter-disciplinary arts at the Mass College of Art and Design in Boston, MA. This production involved hand made large scale sculptures by Belsaré, video projection and dance choreography, all of which was presented as the first ever performance-based capstone project by a student at MassArt, Boston. 

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Premiere at Massachusetts College of Art, Boston, MA (2003)

Conceived, designed and directed by Mesma Belsaré

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