Mesma S. Belsare & Sylvat Aziz: In Conversation at the Leigha Lee Browne Theatre

Nov 3, 2011, 2-4 pm
University of Toronto Scarborough
Curator: Pam Patterson
Assistant Curator: Pailagi Pandya
FREE... all are welcome!

Mesma S. Belsare is described by the New York Times as ëa tour de force, a true act of transcendence and religious immersion’ and by The Dance Current Magazine as ‘a consummate dancer, as mesmerizing as staring into the heart of a fire’. She is a Boston based dancer, choreographer, actor, visual artist and educator and belongs to a generation of young dancers in the South Asian Diaspora who have created a unique niche for themselves in the realm of classical Indian arts, while expanding their repertory in the contemporary idiom. She is formally trained in Bharatanatyam (South Indian Classical dance) and Carnatic vocal by Sri Shankar Hombal and Padmashri Geeta Chandran. Mesma’s work is based on concepts of gender, gender-identity and sexuality and the classical tradition of Nayaki Bhava (the voice of the female protagonist) in traditional Bharatanatyam. Mesma will be skyped from Boston, Mass.
Sylvat Aziz holds Masters degrees in literature and in art. Her studies began in Lahore, Pakistan then on to Pratt Institute, New York, and Concordia University, Montreal. She has exhibited sculpture and painting at Venice; Istanbul; Bradford, England; New Delhi and Lahore, as well as many major public and university galleries in Canada. Her research is focused on problems of representation and the politics of space in early Islamic art and architecture and the influences, conflicts and compromises addressed therein. She currently teaches at Queen's University, Department of Art, Kingston, Ontario. Sylvat will be at the presentation in person.

Special thanks to Cultural Pluralism and the Arts & Jackman Humanities Institute for funding & to Charles C. Smith, Trisha Lamie, Scott Dutrisac, Kevin Wright, Leena Raudvee, Jay Smith and Julie Witt, AEP.

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