MeshGround announces ‘Weathering Grounds’

A site-specific piece performed by Umeshi Rajeendra and documented by Alice Carfrae, highlighting the interplay between body, environment, and spatial storytelling

Choreographed by Umeshi Rajeendra and captured by 

Shameem Ismail, this performance invites audiences to confront our entanglements with the world’s social, political, and environmental affairs through movement

 Descalzinha Danza Workshop by Alleyne Dance, beautifully captured by Irene Vázquez/Pedro Núñez, showcasing explorations in movement and creative practice

• A choreographic dance and movement residency for climate, care and justice will be held online (9–12 January, 2026) and in-person in Colombo (24–31 January, 2026)  

MeshGround (Sri Lanka), presents ‘Weathering Grounds,’ a hybrid choreographic research residency in collaboration with Alleyne Dance (UK) and ClimArts (UK/India).

Since its inception, MeshGround – a leading contemporary dance company and movement platform, has become a dynamic hub where dance transforms into a language for dialogue, activism, and critical inquiry. Founded by Umeshi Rajeendra and Shonaka Ranatunga, MeshGround’s creative work spans a range of groundbreaking performances that combine contemporary movement, live sound, poetry, and immersive staging.

MeshGround also operates as a training and research centre, their teaching philosophy emphasises process over perfection, encouraging dancers to experiment across disciplines, from theatre and sound to environmental art and social inquiry. In doing so, MeshGround reimagines dance as both deeply personal and profoundly communal. 

The Weathering Grounds residency is another initiative that typifies MeshGround’s passion for nurturing the next generation of movement artists in Sri Lanka. The residency invites choreographers, dancers, and performance and movement artists based in Sri Lanka to take part in an immersive creative programme exploring how movement, dance, and performance can embody solutions, resilience, care, and justice in a rapidly changing world.

“Weathering Grounds is a space to explore that through creativity, collaboration, and care - where movement becomes a language for resilience and reimagination” explains MeshGround Co-Founder and Artistic Director Umeshi Rajeendra. “We’re inviting artists to respond to one of the most urgent questions of our time—how can our bodies, our art, and our movement become part of the solution?”

Weathering Grounds combines an online lab (9–12 January, 2026) and an in-person intensive in Colombo (24–31 January, 2026). 

Participants will engage in workshops, collaborative experiments, and choreographic research, guided by international and local facilitators. ClimArts Founder Neelambaree Prasad, details how participants will: “Work together on stories of post-conflict and climate change. Through the residency, participants will be upskilled to harness the potency of art as a powerful medium of communicating climate solutions.”

The residency is supported by the British Council’s Connections Through Culture (CTC) Program which supports artistic collaboration between the UK and countries in the Asia-Pacific and Europe. The grants support collaborative projects between artists, creative practitioners and arts organisations, fostering cross-cultural exchange and lasting relationships. 

British Council Sri Lanka Country Director Orlando Edwards said, “I am thrilled that the CTC Grant Program has attracted such a rich and diverse portfolio of applications – proof of strength of the Sri Lankan cultural scene. I look forward to the fruition of this UK/Sri Lanka arts collaboration which hopes to create socially conscientious and inspiring art.”  

Alleyne Dance in the UK Co-Founder Sadé Alleyne, underlines her company’s deep commitment to nurturing and empowering artists: “Weathering Grounds aligns beautifully with our values, placing creativity, care, and community at the heart of practice. We are honoured to be part of this important residency in Sri Lanka, and to share in an exchange that celebrates resilience, embodied storytelling, and collective strength.”

The Weathering Grounds Residency is completely free of charge, and welcomes artists at all stages of their careers and across diverse disciplines, techniques, and movement forms. It especially encourages applications from artists belonging to historically marginalised or structurally excluded communities, as well as those whose work engages with climate justice, social justice, or post-conflict themes. Artists based outside Colombo will be provided with accommodation during the in-person residency.