Upahaar School of Dance was founded by Shalini Shivashankar with the simple desire to share the joy experienced from expressing and communicating through dance. It was started in Croydon in 2003 and now has branches in Sutton, Croydon, Crawley, Twickenham, Bromley, Orpington and Horsham. Upahaar offers training in Bharatanatyam, Kathak, Mohiniattam and Carnatic Vocal and Mridangam.

One of the core philosophies of Upahaar is that dance and music can be learnt and performed at any age. The school aims to bring Indian classical dance to every sector of the community through its various activities and events and to offer high quality training by a team of well-qualified and dedicated teachers. Upahaar students have performed in prestigious venues across the UK, including the British Parliament. The youth group toured India in 2017. Students have also participated and won awards at national level competitions. In addition to regular performances across the UK and abroad, Upahaar organises workshops by acclaimed artists from around the world. Lecture-demonstrations and workshops in schools and other institutions has been a unique project undertaken by Upahaar over the last five years, highlighting the organisation's commitment and dedication to promoting the arts.