Skip to content

When Srivika Paturi stepped onto the stage for her arangetram—the traditional solo debut of a Bharatanatyam dancer—she was celebrating years of practice and discipline. She was also celebrating community, culture, and the power of math to change lives.

Srivika, the founder of Tampa Math Circle which is a chapter  of Orlando Math Circle (OMC) has been a longtime student of OMC. She dedicated her performance to raising awareness and funds for OMC’s mission. By blending her passion for classical Indian dance with her passion for mathematics and commitment to math enrichment, she showed that milestones can be transformed into meaningful service. Srivika invited her audience to learn about OMC’s mission and support its work through donations.

Why OMC?

OMC’s mission is to make math joyful, accessible, and empowering through enriching math experiences that help people of all ages Flourish Through Mathematics.For Srivika, math has always been about creativity, rhythm, and discipline—the same qualities found in dance. By dedicating her performance to OMC, she celebrated the impact math circles had on her growth and invited others to support future students. While being a student at OMC Srivika participated in classes, contests and events like math festivals. Srivika is continuously learning through the OMC Math Circle Leader program and organizing peers to join the Tampa leadership team so that they can continue to organize events in Tampa that used to be held only in Orlando such as the Girls’ Math Competition, designed to encourage young women in STEM, and Math Kangaroo, an international contest that brings problem-solving to thousands of students.

Through these efforts, Srivika has become a model of how youth leadership can expand opportunities in math and science.