MALLIKA SARABHAI
Kuchipudi & Bharatnatyam Dancer
Mallika
Sarabhai, one of the leading
exponents of Bharatnatyam and Kuchipudi, is the
daughter of the dancing legend Mrinalini Sarabhai and the renowned scientist
Vikram Sarabhai. A multifaceted personality, Mallika is not only a dancer, but
also a noted film-maker, internationally known choreographer, an actress, a TV
anchor, an editor, a publisher and so on. Throughout her different careers
dancing has remained her first love.
Mallika started her acting career
when she was fifteen and starred in Gujarati and Hindi films. She has also played the role of Draupadi in Peter Brooke's
film 'Mahabharata', which was made in English and French. After completing her graduation,
Mallika entered into the world of performing arts. She followed the foot steps
of her mother and places herself firmly at the cutting edge of Indian dance and
dance theatre. Along with her other interests, she took her Masters in Business Administration from the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad and a doctorate in organisational
behaviour.
Mallika, along with her mother co-directs the Darpana Academy of
Performing arts in Ahmedabad, a unique centre for the arts which has performed all over India and
abroad.
Today the academy has many faces; the Darpana Performance Group, the Janavak Folk and Tribal Dance
Company, Darpana for Development, Darpana Communications, the Darpana
Conservatoire etc .
Mallika received her first award in 1977.
She was the recipient of the "French Palme D'or", the highest civilian
award by the French Government and in Paris she was honoured as the 'Best Soloist
Artist' among 400 dancers from 25 countries among other awards.
Personally she is a strong character
with her own ideas and she feels that dance is a living language which you can
interpret the way you think best. She has learned both the theory and practice
of dance and her experiments include compositions like Draupadi, Shakti - The Power of Woman, Sita's Daughters, Itan
Kahani, Aspiration, Ganga, Surya etc. Whatever field she is involved in, be it
an activist, writer, instigator of community projects, anchorperson of magazines
or TV channels, painting with her feet, Mallika is so full of energy that she
excels in it.
Contact address
Mallika Sarabhai,
'Darpana Academy of Performing Arts',
Usmanpura, Ahmedabad 380013
Ph: (079) - 27551389, Fax: (079) -27550566
Contact now : E-mail1, E-mail2
Website : www.darpana.com
