What if you could step inside Bharatanatyam?
MargaM is a pioneering new work by pioneering dance artist Divya Kasturi, and among the first projects of its kind to bring the experience of a South Asian classical dance form into a fully immersive VR environment.
MargaM guides you through a virtual South Indian temple on a memorable journey through Bharatanatyam – one of the world’s oldest classical dance forms. Through a VR headset, you move from the temple’s entrance to its inner space encountering intricate moves, held inside an original soundscape of voice, music and song.
Sun 25 October - Dreamy Place Festival, Brighton
Book 30 min MargaM slot at Dreamy Place Festival
Thurs 5th Nov 4-7.30pm / Fri 6th Nov 4-7.30pm / Sat 7th Nov 2-7.30pm
Sadler's Wells East
A first-of-its-kind project integrating Bharatanatyam into VR headsets MargaM is created by Dance artist Divya Kasturi in collaboration with leading digital technologists and partners. MargaM represents a bold meeting of ancient artistic tradition and pioneering technology.
Collaborators - Clémence Debaig (Unwired Dance), Rebecca Evans (Pell Ensemble), Samuel Lawrence (Samuel Lawrence Limited)
Supporters/Partners - Dr Leslie Deere, Dan Shorten, Guildhall Production Studio, Target 3D, artsdepot, Alyssa Mello, DKC is part of the Artist Residency Programme at the Centre for Performance, Technology, and Equity (PTEQ) at Central and Divya Kasturi is an Associates Programme Pilot Artist at Guildhall School of Music and Drama. We are grateful for a Sadler's Wells Time and Space Residency in 2025 and additional support in kind in 2026.
Supported by Arts Council England National Lottery Project Grants.
Dive Deeper into MargaM
At MargaM's core is Bharatanatyam, a 2,000-year-old temple dance form from South India. In MargaM, audiences step into a beautifully realised virtual temple, guided through seven stages of the traditional margam repertoire. You can move around the space, see the dance from every angle, and get closer to the detail, rhythm, and expression than ever before.
This isn’t just a tech experiment – it’s a way of opening up cultural spaces and stories that have often been closed off by history, caste, and gender. It celebrates the artistry of female temple dancers, honours tradition, and gives audiences anywhere in the world a direct, sensory connection to the form.
By combining volumetric capture, authentic music, temple architecture, and Divya’s internationally recognised choreography, MargaM sets out to inspire both audiences and the dance sector. It’s an opportunity to explore new creative possibilities, rethink performance for the digital age, and create a blueprint for how traditional forms can thrive in future.
This is a project that has been four years in the making... Read on for an insight into the creative process
Meet The Eye/I Create Team
This photo was taken during the first Play Day at Studio Wayne McGregor in August 2021. From left to right are Emma McFarland (Studio eMc), Divya Kasturi (Visionary Artist/Founder), Kyla Booth-Lucking (Producer), Maf’j Alvarez (Creative Technologist), and Will Hurt (Supporting Creative Technologist).
Phase One: Eye/I Create
Exploring the possibilities of expressing Bharatanatyam through digital and Virtual Reality realms
The Story of
Eye/ I Create
Divya Kasturi’s groundbreaking Eye/I Create project—blending South Indian classical dance with cutting edge VR and 3-D technologies—began as an experiment in blending tradition with creative technology, and is now, growing into an internationally recognized artistic journey.
Gallery and Media
