Monica Singh Sangwan started dancing at the age of six and is known for her strength, refinement of musical nuances and precision of style . Despite originally training and performing across India in the classical style of Bharatnatyam for twelve years under the tutelage of  Sonal Mansingh, Monica finally found her medium in the haunting music and fluid movements of Odissi after seeing a choreographic composition of ‘Sohamasmi’ by Madhavi Mudgal in 1988.  She subsequently trained with Madhavi Mudgal for fifteen years and had the privilege of attending several workshops by the doyen of Odissi dance, the Late Guru Kelucharan Mohapatra.  Monica achieved her Visharad in Odissi dance from Gandharva Mahavidyalaya, New Delhi, and was awarded Scholarships for Odissi dance by the Sahitya Kala Parishad (1997- 98) and the Ministry of Human Resource Development (1999-2000).  After teaching Odissi in schools across New Delhi and being nominated by the Indian Council for Cultural Relations as a performer and teacher for a posting abroad, Monica established the Sohamasmi Centre for Performing Arts, a non-profit organisation, in Gurgaon in 2003. The Organization has now moved on to organizing performances and workshops by various artists of diverse backgrounds in Australia after Monica was granted permanent residency by the Australian Government as a Distinguished Talent in 2010. The Sohamasmi Centre for performing Arts is now a full-fledged School of Odissi dance in Melbourne .

 

Monica’s art has taken her all over the world to countries including France, Sweden, United Kingdom, Belgium, Germany, Switzerland, Vietnam, Laos, Nepal, Bangladesh, Russia and of course Australia where she has performed both as a troupe member and a soloist in her own right.  She believes that Indian classical dance is now standing at a very interesting cultural junction where it must maintain its ancient integrity of form while growing with the modern world into new spaces of free expression.  In her own words, Monica says she has “found immense sense of expression and challenge in dancing. It was the music that lifted me to a place of spiritual high a place of silence which seemed to show me a doorway to a path that goes beyond dancing. As a teacher, I find the purpose of my life and skills being fulfilled as I am moved into seeing personalities change, transform, grow and evolve through just the simplicity of engaging in movement. Dance acts as a tool of empowerment for people to apply in their daily lives and carry into the spiritual search for truth.” She is now a resident of Melbourne training dancers of diverse ethnicities in Odissi dance called the Sohamasmi Group.