Mesma Belsare

🪔 About

Mesma Belsaré is a distinguished Indian classical dancer, choreographer, painter, and actor, renowned for her innovative approach to Bharatanatyam. Based in Boston, MA, she has sustained a professional dancing career spanning over two decades, performing solo at prestigious venues such as Lincoln Center, Asia Society, Alvin Ailey Theater, Siri Fort in New Delhi, and the Harbourfront Centre in Toronto. Belsaré's extensive training in Bharatanatyam began in 1987. She first studied at the Kalapadma Dance Academy in Bhopal, India, under Sri Shankar Hombal, where she received a Kalakshetra foundation. She furthered her training at the Natya Vriksha Academy under Padmashri Geeta Chandran in New Delhi, immersing herself in the Thanjavur bani, which carries the Swarna Saraswathi lineage and the distinct adavu construction of the Dandayudhapani Pillai style. Belsaré holds a Diploma in Bharatanatyam with distinction from Indira Kala Sangeet University. She continues her studies under Dr. Maya Kulkarni in New York City, with whom she has also collaborated on a fifteen-year body of choreographic work called "Shilpa Natanam: The Dancing Sculptures." An interdisciplinary artist, Belsaré is known for fusing classical Bharatanatyam with contemporary themes, exploring the body as an archaeological site where myth, form, and embodied memory converge. Her original choreographic works include "En-twined" (2009), "Unquiet Epics" (2010), "The Vermin's Will" (2014), "SIREN" (2024), and "The Hourglass" (2026). She is also recognized as the only trans Bharatanatyam artist in North America, championing South Asian trans and queer voices. Belsaré co-founded Samvād, a forum dedicated to rigorous critical discourse among professional classical Indian performing artists. Her work has been praised by The New York Times as "a tour de force...an act of transcendence and religious immersion." Awards & Honours: Artist-Grant, Scholarship for advanced training in Bharatanatyam and Indian classical music, Dora Mavor Moore Award (Nomination for UMA), Dance/USA Fellowship, Individual Artist Fellowship for Painting, Grant, Classical Arts Scholarship, Brother Thomas Fellowship (Nomination).