Choreographer Sidra Bell, composer Fernanda Aoki Navarro, and writer Meenakshi Chakraverti are creating MUTE, the dance, which tells a universal and poignant story of powerlessness, agency, and change through dance and original music. The story is based on Chakraverti's novella, Mute, adapted by Bell, Navarro, and Chakraverti in the summer of 2025. The dance comprises nine scenes, each 3 to 8 minutes, for a full ballet of about 40 minutes. This project brings together our creative nexus of story-telling, language, movement, and music in a unique and compelling manner. We are seeking seed funding for the first phase of the project.
Mute, the novella -- written in the first nine months of the Covid-19 pandemic -- explores powerlessness and agency when socio-political structures beyond our control take what we love away. The themes of MUTE have become even more timely and necessary in our current moment.