Work

Trained in Odissi from an early age, Leesa is a senior, auditioned Odissi artist with extensive national and international performance experience. Her relationship with dance goes beyond performance — it is a lifelong practice of discipline, devotion, and inquiry. She has performed at major cultural festivals and institutions in India and abroad, including the Konark Festival, NCPA Mumbai, Natyanjali (Chidambaram), Haridas Samaratha, International Odissi Festivals, ISKCON platforms, SPICMACAY programmes, and venues across Malaysia and the United States.

As a choreographer and director, her work includes classical ballets, thematic productions, and research-based choreographies exploring abhinaya, rasa, and narrative. Her productions balance classical rigour with emotional accessibility, allowing tradition to remain grounded while speaking to contemporary audiences.

Leesa began her artistic journey as a child actor in acclaimed Odia cinema, receiving the Best Child Artist Award for Basanta Raas. She went on to act in several award-winning films and stage productions, developing an early sensitivity to storytelling, expression, and character.

This foundation in cinema continues to inform her work across disciplines — particularly her attention to emotional nuance, timing, and inner life, which subtly shape her dance, choreography, and narrative sensibility.

With over two decades of experience in academics and training, Leesa has worked as a faculty member, trainer, and programme designer across management institutes, cultural institutions, and grassroots organisations.

Her teaching and training engagements include management education (HR, organisational behaviour, and performance systems), executive and leadership training, dance pedagogy workshops, and interdisciplinary learning programmes that link the arts with experiential education.

She is the author of Dancing is Fun! — an alternative approach to teaching Indian classical dance through embodied learning and play. Her academic grounding includes a Post Graduate Diploma in Rural Management (IRMA, Anand) and doctoral research in organisational culture.

Founded in 2014, Nirguna is a cultural enterprise working closely with weavers and artisans across India. The initiative focuses on the revival of endangered handloom traditions, ethical production systems, and design development rooted in traditional knowledge.

Under Leesa's leadership, Nirguna has revived forgotten and declining weaves — including Dhalapatbara — while creating sustainable, respectful market pathways for artisan communities. The work foregrounds dignity, continuity, and cultural integrity over trend-driven production.

In recognition of her contribution to the handloom sector, Leesa was awarded the SheShakti Award (2023).

As Founder Trustee of Nirguna Trust, Leesa works at the intersection of culture, livelihoods, and education. The Trust focuses on research, documentation, capacity-building, and long-term support for artists, artisans, and cultural practitioners beyond purely commercial frameworks.

Through the Nirguna Centre for Excellence, this work extends into structured learning, interdisciplinary practice, and cultural research — creating spaces where tradition, inquiry, and contemporary relevance coexist.

Her approach to institution-building is deeply informed by her early professional experience in HR and organisation development, including her role at GCMMF (Amul), where she worked on training systems, organisational design, and people-centric leadership.

Leesa has conceptualised and organised large-scale cultural events, including national and international Odissi festivals, curated performance series, and multi-day cultural programmes. These initiatives bring together dancers, musicians, scholars, artists, and younger practitioners in spaces of dialogue and shared learning.

Her leadership emphasises continuity, collaboration, and care, rather than spectacle — ensuring that cultural ecosystems remain alive, ethical, and inclusive.