She has traveled widely as a troupe member and as a soloist performing in her own right.

Monica was awarded the Sahitya Kala Parishad scholarship for Odissi 1997- 98 and the Ministry of human resource development Scholarship for Odissi 1999-2000.

She attended several workshops by the doyen of Odissi dance the Late Guru Kelucharan Mahapatra.

She has also been selected by the ICCR as a performer cum teacher for a posting abroad.

An artists cultural heritage and family background sometimes places the artist in a unique position to experience the subtle changes brought in the arts due to political conditions and changing times.

Monica started performing from the young age of 11 years. As her maternal side is Turkmen she has experienced traveling extensively in Turkmenistan during the time of Gorbechev’ s Perestroika, performing in Ashgabat, Mari, Cherzov, Titzen and several small collective farms of the former Soviet Union. Through these interactions she gained valuable experience and understanding of the need to make her art more accessible and open to people of all cultures without disrespecting her dance form and its aesthetics.

Since then Monica has traveled to and performed in France, Sweden, United Kingdom, Belgium, Germany, Switzerland, Vietnam, Laos, Nepal, Bangladesh, Russia, etc.

Indian classical dance as a form is now standing at a very interesting cultural junction where it has to survive and grow with the modern world and not become obsolete and ancient in a negative way. Monica has felt the need to express her art keeping its form and boundaries intact and yet, to move into new spaces of free expression. To keep the artistic spirit alive within her Monica started experimenting in theatre and worked in several plays enriching her artistic abilities.

At present she is working with Arjun Raina in his theatrical production namely “The Magic Hour“ which is a play combining Kathakali, Odissi and Shakespearean theatre. She is a member of THE BLACK BAKHKHAI COLLECTIVE, which is an International Company of performing artists traveling with a collection of several plays and solo performances.

Monica has worked in many schools of Delhi like the Vasant Valley School, Green fields, Manav Sthali, Amity International School, etc. Teaching Odissi as a specialty subject. She has also taught at Bal Bhavan, New Delhi and conducted workshops for the Indian embassy in Moscow on Indian classical dance traditions.

Since 2003 Monica has started SOHAMASMI (centre for performing arts) with two branches in Gurgaon where she concentrates exclusively on training students in Odissi dance.