Project Neysa

Let the essence of your art be someone's ray of sunshine. We teach the underprivileged performing arts. 

The idea of Neysa came about with the aim to create opportunities, fuel hopes, and dreams in the field of performing arts, specifically dance. When we all were stuck in lockdown, battling the uncertain times, we wanted to help the needy in our capacity. In May 2020 with this simple thought began the idea of Neysa. To encourage performing arts and give the opportunity to underprivileged children a sense of hope and happiness in these tough times. 

We at Neysa, believe that happiness has a ripple effect. We spread smiles in the lives of underprivileged children and give them access to performing arts through our talent. We teach dance to children in different orphanages and shelter homes by conducting online dance classes. The solution consists of an app that directly connects organizations with instructors, people who want to donate and give back through their passion.

In the year 2020, we saw the world battle with uncertainties like never before. We realized that a lot of opportunities and freedom to learn were limited to the privileged. We remembered a Ted Talk, “What no one told you about happiness”, where the speaker asked the underprivileged children, “What are your hopes and dreams”, to which they replied, “What hopes and dreams could we possibly have?”. This left us perplexed and instead of making donations in kind or food, we wanted to bring something unique to the equation and decided to contribute through our talent. As of now, there are 153 million orphans worldwide. Around the world, 617 million children don't have access to quality education and never have the opportunity to learn performing arts. 280 million people around the world undergo depression. Dance therapy is considered one of the best solutions to stay fit and healthy, and keep one's mental health in check. It is proven to be a great source of exercise, and learning a new skill can keep one motivated. 

Starting with 2 instructors, at 2 shelter homes, today we’ve grown to 15 organizations and impacting 200+ children and the elderly. We aim to continue growing, so we can reach the underprivileged section of society, and uplift them with opportunities. 

We directly impact the lives of children at shelter homes, orphanages, women's shelter homes, children of prison inmates, cancer homes etc. Additionally, we teach the elderly at old age homes and aim to expand to teaching the specially-abled, the children of house help who cannot afford classes. 

We aim at developing a network through our app that directly connects the needy with instructors who want to give back through their passion. Additionally, we explore the unknown and highlight the various dance forms in India through our blog. 

We have continuously developed a curriculum to improve our classes and workshops. Through regular feedback from the organizations, we have developed our model and outcome.

We conduct annual performances, workshops and performances to ensure that the children are motivated and engage them in various activities by providing opportunities. 

Project Neysa has partnered with 15 organizations around the country. It has a team of 25+ dance instructors, 10 management volunteers and has grown to reach 200+ children, women and the elderly around the world. We host fundraisers as well, for cancer patients, children in the orphanages for COVID supplies. 

The core technology is the app that we aim to build. It would serve as a network connecting the needy to the instructors who can give back through their passion. 

Currently, our network expands around the country with global volunteers who have taken an interest in our initiative. 

The solution currently serves 200+ children, 20+ elderly consists of a team of 50+ enthusiastic volunteers and partnering with 15 organizations in the domains of orphanages, shelter homes, women's homes, old age homes, cancer homes etc. 

We aim to expand to 1000+ children, 100+ elderly and a team of 100+ volunteers,  50 organizations across the globe aiming to expand to teach the specially-abled, children from low-income backgrounds, women's homes etc.

The impact goals for next year is the complete building of the app, overall growth and development of the team and most importantly, reaching more people and providing them with an opportunity to develop their skills in the performing arts. 

Additionally, we explore the unexplored and document the various unknown forms of India. 

We have started our work towards the expansion and development of a base model for the app. 

We measure progress from the short term and long term goals. That includes the expansion of Project Neysa, increase in organizations, influence on the children (key indicators such as confidence, curiosity, involvement, fitness etc), and overall growth of the organization organically. 

We cater to solve the UN SDG 4 and 5: Quality Education and Gender Equality. 

The formation of the financial model and revenue model is one of the key barriers that we hope to overcome.

Sejal Budholiya: She is an author, anchor, dancer and final year engineering student from Vellore Institute of Technology, India. She is trained in folk dance, Kathak and fine arts holding a diploma in each of them. She co-founded, Project Neysa, as a means to spread the art that she cherishes so fondly and ensure that everyone has an opportunity to learn the same. She was a part of the Swarovski Foundation: Creatives for our Future Cohort. 

Prachi Saraswat: She is an anchor, dancer and final year engineering student from Vellore Institute of Technology, India. She is a self-taught dancer and has performed dance forms such as Bhangra, freestyle, Bollywood, Zumba amongst others. She co-founded, Project Neysa, as a means to give back to society and instil in others the power of giving. 

The management team consists of students, professionals who volunteer their time to develop this initiative further. Most of the instructors are professionally taught and hold various accolades in their specific danceforms. 

Currently, Project Neysa partners with 15+ organizations across India. 

India vision Foundation 

Neev 

Progetto 

Helphen 

El Shaddai 

Seva Tirth 

Snehalaya 

CRY 

Thayimane 

SATH 

SEDS India 

SKF Children Foundation 

Sudhama Old Age Home 

Maher 

Pravega 

Work for Equality 

Karunalaya Children Home 

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In the year 2020, we saw the world battle with uncertainties like never before. We realized that a lot of opportunities and freedom to learn were limited to the privileged. We remembered a Ted Talk, “What no one told you about happiness”, where the speaker asked the underprivileged children, “What are your hopes and dreams”, to which they replied, “What hopes and dreams could we possibly have?”. This left us perplexed and instead of making donations in kind or food, we wanted to bring something unique to the equation and decided to contribute through our talent.

 The idea of Neysa came about with the aim to create opportunities, fuel hopes, and dreams in the field of performing arts, specifically dance. When we all were stuck in lockdown, battling the uncertain times, we wanted to help the needy in our capacity. In May 2020 with this simple thought began the idea of Neysa. To encourage performing arts and give the opportunity to underprivileged children a sense of hope and happiness in these tough times. 

We at Neysa, believe that happiness has a ripple effect. We spread smiles in the lives of underprivileged children and give them access to performing arts through our talent. We teach dance to children in different orphanages and shelter homes by conducting online dance classes.

Starting off as two friends who wanted to be of some help to the world in tough times, today we are a team of 40 passionate people who are certain to serve society in the best way possible. We are associated with 15+ organizations and impacted around 200+ children, teaching various dance forms ranging from Kathak-based choreographies to freestyle. We have conducted numerous events like an online dance showcase for children to show their talent, fundraisers for cancer patients, and multiple skill development workshops for children to give them insights into the upcoming modern world.

For us, dance is a way of life and we all can together dance our way through to make this world a better place to live.