Mallika Sarabhai

As the creator and performer of both classical and contemporary works, Mallika Sarabhai is one of India’s leading choreographers and dancers and is in constant demand as a soloist and with her dance company, Darpana. . She has a PhD in organisational behaviour and has been the director of the Darpana Academy of Performing Arts since 1977.

Sarabhai came to international notice when she played the role of Draupadi in Peter Brook’s The Mahabharata for five  years, first in French and then English, performing in France, North America, Australia, Japan, and Scotland.

Always an activist for societal education and women’s empowerment, Sarabhai began using her work for change. In 1989 she created the first of her hard-hitting solo theatrical works, Shakti: The Power of Women. Since then she has created numerous stage productions that have raised awareness, highlighted crucial issues, and advocated change. Several of these toured internationally as well as throughout India.

Sarabhai began to develop her own contemporary dance vocabulary in the mid-1990s and went on to create short and full-length works that have been presented in North America, Scotland, Singapore, China, and Australia as well as in India.