Dasamahavidya: The Search for Wisdom
Company:
Silambam Phoenix
Dasamahavidya: The Search for Wisdom
New York City premiere · Silambam Phoenix
Thursday, October 15, 2026 · 7:00 PM
Gibney Dance, Studio U · Followed by a talkback
The Devotee is a woman who has spent years doing everything she was supposed to do and still feels an ache she can't name. Her search leads her to the Mahavidyas, the ten great wisdom goddesses of the Shakta tradition. They range from the radiant to the fierce to the unsettling, and each pushes her toward a different kind of knowing.
Dasamahavidya is a dance play. It keeps the full expressive range of Bharatanatyam, from the rhythmic precision of nritta to the nuanced storytelling of abhinaya, and gives it the structure of a play: a protagonist, a through-line, and a journey with real stakes. The result works for longtime viwers and for audiences seeing the form for the first time.
The work began as a choreographic piece by Dr. Srimathy Mohan. It has been expanded into a narrative work with her daughter, Vaibu Mohan, a Bharatanatyam dancer, playwright, and NYU Tisch-trained musical theater writer who wrote the script and dances in the production. It is the first production of Silambam Phoenix's new New York company, which is building a regular home for training and performing in the city. It is also part of the organization's season-long celebration of Sangita Kalanidhi Sri R.K. Shriramkumar.
The premiere falls during Navaratri, the festival season honoring the feminine divine in her many forms.
Stay after for a talkback with the artists.
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