'...sinuous elegance.'
The Boston Globe
...a virtuoso number..
The New York Times (Alastair Macaulay, August 21, 2018)
Belsaré challenged notions of what is physically possible...
The Ballet Review, New York (Karen Greenspan, June 2019)
A tour de force...a true act of transcendence and religious immersion...an extraordinary achievement, passing through many engrossing features of arm gesture, footwork, head movement, hand vibrations, always with some true sense of repose and at the same time with a gripping purposefulness from first to last...
The New York Times (Alastair Macaulay, August 24, 2008)
Pure bliss,... extremely decisive dancer, with a modernist's inclination to effect sudden and severely specific dance images, which makes her an incisive and memorable performer.
ExploreDance.com (Mindy Aloff, June 5, 2010)
Intelligent and intricate eloquence.
The Guardian (Judith Mackrell, July 11, 2013)
...sinuous elegance....
The Boston Globe (Matthew Gurrieri, April 17, 2010)
...a consummate dancer, quick-footed and exact, with clean lines and rhythmic alacrity. Belsare, at full tilt, is as mesmerizing as staring into the heart of a fire... merges tradition and modernity through wildly pleasurable means.
The Dance Current Magazine (Penelope Ford, June 27, 2008)
Toronto audiences have had plenty of opportunities to get to know the classical South Asian dance form Bharatanatyam but I doubt they've ever seen it performed with such extravagant virtuosity as Belsare brings to it...a showstopper if ever there was one.
Michael Crabb, Dance Critic, CBC RADIO1, TORONTO, Canada
...The dancer's incredible presence exudes pride and power.
MONDO Magazine (Leandra de Valois-Franklin, May 9, 2008)
Belsare avoids high camp in a dance that presents the gamut of female images.
The Toronto Star (Susan Walker, May 02, 2008)
Belsare has the advantage of a good foundation and has undoubtedly acquired the knowhow on the finer aspects of the dance....
The Hindu (Leela Venkataraman, March 1, 1996)
...supporting (Belsare's) technical strength is the capacity for intense involvement.
The Hindu (Leela Venkataraman, March 9, 1997)
Responsive, responsible; tenacious, talented; positive and polished...
The Sunday Times of India (December 29, 1996)
Stunning artistry and visionary movement practice in traditional Eastern Indian dance. Mesma represents the highest Integrity, respectfully pushing the boundaries of this ancient cultural dance genre.
Peter Rockford Espiritu is the Executive and Artistic Director of Tau Dance Theater, Hawaii
Belsare is a dancer of exquisite and formidable technical and dramatic skill.
Debra Cash, Dance Critic, Scholar & Executive Director, Boston Dance Alliance
The final performance reached deep into these stories and brought out something very powerful. The audience was clearly moved, as was I.
Laura Weinstein
Ananda Coomaraswamy Curator of South Asian and Islamic Art
Art of Asia, Oceania, and Africa
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
Over 350 people expressed great interest in the exhibits, especially the dance-video installation... people were simply mesmerized.
Chair of the Friends of South Asia Committee
Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto, Canada
Her performances in Washington DC were received with critical acclaim and she has also served as a wonderful spokesperson for using the arts to build bridges across various communities. Belsare's contributions to the arts and education communities in the US are enormous and growing.
Daniel Phoenix Singh, Artistic Director, Dakshina/Daniel Phoenix Singh Dance Company, Washington, D.C
This kind of blend of artistry and awareness towards social and artistic issues is rare to find. Mesma has been creating and presenting at some of the most coveted venues of the world (e.g. The Lincoln Center and the Alvin Ailey Theatre in New York City, the Harbour Front Centre in Toronto and various museums, universities and festivals around North America). I am keen to present her work in London in the future and would highly recommend her to any of the prospective venues in Europe.
- Pratibha Parmar, Director, Kali Films, London, UK
We in Canada feel very fortunate to have this world-class artist right across our border upon who we can call. Mesma Belsare is a cultural gem whose work transcends both time and space expands our understanding of history and the role of dance.
Hari Krishnan, Artistic Director, inDANCE, Toronto, Canada
Dancers like Mesma are a gift to America. She helps her audience to look beyond Bharatanatyam's exotic appeal through the many layers of this complex art and to discover that it is essentially a basic form of human expression and a rather uncomplicated means of reaching toward the nature of one's being.
Anita Ratnam, choreographer and culturalist, Arangham Trust, Chennai, India
Her skill in assuming different characters in story telling through dance is mesmerizing. She is able to challenge and question preset notions of identity: both cultural and social; something that our culture and audiences take very seriously.
Vasundhara Prabhu, Former Deputy Director for Education and Interpretation, San Diego Museum of Art, San Diego, CA
Mesma and her talents are exceptional. A master of her craft, she is able to adapt the traditional contents of her training and repertory not only to align with the concerns and perceptions of the contemporary audiences, but to excite them to wonder and reflection.
Uttara Asha Coorlawala
Dance Critic, Adj. Professor, Dance, Alvin Ailey Fordham University, Barnard College/Columbia University, New York City
This was the first Bharatanatyam dancer's performance ever at the University of Wyoming and in the state of Wyoming itself. Yet despite the newness of this form to the audience, Belsare's residency was so successful that I have been repeatedly asked when she will return.
Dr. Bonnie Zare, Assoc. Professor, Womens Studies, University of Wyoming, Laramie, Wyoming
In my twenty years as a museum educator, I have never worked with a colleague who had such a combination of breadth and excellence.
Ray Williams, Director of Education, Blanton Museum of Art, Austin, Texas
Dance is an abstract art. Dancers like Mesma have a unique ability to make that abstraction tangible. The world of Indian arts in the United States is enriched by dancers such as Mesma.
Aroon Shivdasani, Former Executive Director, Indo-American Arts Council, Inc., New York City
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