Mesma Belsaré
'...a tour de force.'
The New York Times
'I had tears of joy when she unveiled this piece.'
Patron
pic: Greg Noir Photography
pic: Paul Herb
Mesma Belsaré is a multidisciplinary dance artist recognized for her evocative solo performances and expansive storytelling practice. Her work has been presented at major venues including Lincoln Center, Asia Society, Alvin Ailey Theater, The Lincoln Theater (Washington D.C.), Siri Fort (New Delhi), and the Harbourfront Centre (Toronto).
She is a recipient of the Dance/USA 2022–23 Fellowship, funded by the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, as well as grants from the Cambridge Arts Council, the New England Foundation for the Arts (NEFA), and the Government of Delhi.
Trained extensively in Bharatanātyam at Kalapadma Dance Academy (Bhopal) under Sri Shankar Hombal and later at Natya Vriksha (New Delhi) under Padmashri Geeta Chandran, Belsaré holds a Diploma in Bharatanātyam from Indira Kala Sangeet University. She continues her studies in New York with Dr. Maya Kulkarni.
Her performance work spans classical repertoire and original productions, including Narcissus (2025), SIREN (2024), Jatayu (2023), Medea (2022), Plato's Allegory of the Cave (2020), In Each is Both (2019), Mohini (2019), Sāyankālé (2019), The Vermin’s Will (2017), Unquiet Epics (2012), Zan: Women in the Shahnameh (2010), Carmine Bees (2008), and Shilpa Nrityam (2002). Her commissioned dance films Chinnamastā (2022) and In the Creator’s Gaze (2020), created with Maya Kulkarni, have been widely acclaimed.
Belsaré’s theater work includes performances and choreographic collaborations with Central Square Theater, Harvard University, Wellesley College, Circle East (NYC), Holy Cross College, and Boston University, in productions such as A Christmas Carol, When January Feels Like Summer, Gehri Dosti, Tughlaq, Dance Like a Man, and the opera The Bandit Queen.
Alongside her career as a dancer, Belsaré is a visual artist working primarily in oil, with additional experiments in mixed media and digital forms. Her practice is shaped by her lifelong immersion in Bharatanātyam, music, painting, and theater—disciplines that continue to inform her sense of rhythm, gesture, and visual narrative.
She has served as a Museum Educator at the Peabody Essex Museum and later as the Director of Education at the MassArt Art Museum in Boston, deepening her commitment to the role of art in public life.
Her paintings are held in public and private collections in the United States, India, Canada, Britain, Holland, and France, and have been exhibited at institutions including Massachusetts College of Art and Design; SOWA Art, Boston; Salon South Asia at the Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto; Baruch College, New York City; Delhi College of Art; and The Triveni Art Enclave, New Delhi.
In 2024, Belsaré received the Individual Artist Fellowship for Painting from the New Jersey State Council on the Arts and Mid Atlantic Arts.
She currently lives and works in the New York area.
Click here for the painting gallery.
Audience Reviews
""A deeply committed artist, instructor + cultural ambassador- every experience shared from performing to painting to instruction, is of integrity, passion, discipline + reflection.""
"A unique aspect of Mesma's performance is that you never know what will happen next. She transcends all mediums using an emotionally stirring blend of personal narrative, creative expression, and audience interaction."
"Watching her dance, paint, and sing was an eye opener for the need of expression as a way of explaining and exemplifying one's identity. Her creation of art in all forms focused on an idea so humanistic that forced me as the audience to reflect and connect with art in my own life."
Dance Videos
Dance Videos
Dance Videos
Mesma_SIREN_@Intersections Conference 2025
Mesma Belsare: Dancer and Choreographer
Mesma Belsaré (dance excerpts)
SIREN by Mesma Belsaré 2024 (excerpts)
Painting Videos
Paintings, Drawings & Prints
Paintings, Drawings & Prints
'Humming Dews' by Mesma Belsaré
Art by Mesma Belsaré
A drawing-from-life video
Commission painting "Transfiguration" 2021
Inspiring Quotes Series
Inspiring quote #4 (Nietzsche)
Inspiring quote #4 (Nietzsche)
Inspiring Quote#3 (Georgia O'Keeffe)
Inspiring Quotes #2 (Ralph Waldo Emerson)
Video blogs
community
initiative
Mesma Belsaré is the co-founder of Samväd along with Odissi dancer Priya Bangal.
Samvād is a forum for professional artists and committed practitioners of classical Indian dance and music.
A creative space for artists to come together to evaluate and reflect in an informal environment, Samvād invites critical discussions on aesthetic values and artistic goals. Samvād is for artists who seek a creative community. Members are encouraged to share their artistic process outside the framework of formal presentations and performances.
Samvād hosts regular in-person and online meetings for members, public conversations besides online interviews and debates. Samvād's School of Skills is specially created to offer professional development opportunities for performing artists.
Samvād is an inclusive, safe space for Indian classical performing artists regardless of their ethic affiliations, caste/creed/religious denominations, gender, gender-identity or sexual orientation.
Contact: samvadboston@gmail.com
Facebook: @samvadboston
Contact Mesma for information on meetings. Please consider liking and supporting Samvād's Facebook Page.