My cause is simply to promote and achieve a greater awareness of Odissi dance. However, to do this, I have often been involved in the community for general appreciation of Indian dance and culture. As a result, I have been drawn to take leadership and an organizational role in such activities which elicit more response and other activities which also bring together like artists.
Niharika

In North America, Niharika Mohanty is often active in initiating and carrying out novel ideas in the collective promotion and understanding of Odissi, Indian dance, and other dance forms. For three years, she had organized a successful Indian dance camp in her native Hamilton, Canada. The camp is designed to expose children and youth to Indian classical and/or folk dance styles. Niharika has been very active in her community. She has reinitiated Kumar Utsav to bring awareness of Orissa's culture to the younger generation in the Toronto vicinity. Also, Niharika organized the 20th Anniversary Celebration for India Canada Society of Hamilton & Region. More recently, Niharika has been involved in organizing Odissi programs and tours of artists from India, so that North America can be exposed fully to the aesthetic beauty of Odissi. In 2000, she organized late Guru Kelucharan Mohapatra's tour with Sanyuktam and his two North American workshops, and she was one of the key organizers of the Odissi Festival in Washington DC which brought together great gurus, renowned established dancers, aspiring talents, critics, students, and connoisseurs of Odissi dance. Niharika invites Sujata Mohapatra for an annual workshop for herself, her students and for Odissi dance students in North America. She also is involved in organizing a solo tour for Ms. Mohapatra.

Niharika initiated a dance group called "Jukta", a collective of eight dancers representing six Indian classical dance styles. Niharika, Ravi Mony (Kuchipudi), Sukalyan Bhattacharya (Manipuri), and Sandhya Sree Athmakuri (Bharatanatyam/Kuchipudi) formed a smaller collective called "Parichay". Now, in the Bay Area, Niharika has initiated a group of the Odissi professional dancers in the area, called Kalashri Sangha. Their motivation of coming together is to bring greater awareness and appreciation of the style and make it a mainstream dance form.

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