Mythili Prakash is a notable Indo American Bharatnatyam dancer. She is recognized as one of the world"s leading young exponents of Bharatanatyam. Hailed a child prodigy, she started performing Bharatanatyam at the age of eight. She has toured throughout the world and performed at various prestigious venues. Mythili is the recipient of several awards including Sanskriti Nrithya Puraskar, Nadanamaamani Award and Devdasi National Award just to name a handful.
Early Life and Education of Mythili Prakash
She was born on July 6, 1982 in Los Angeles, California, U.S. She began learning and performing Bharatanatyam at the age of eight. She received her dance training from her mother Viji Prakash who is also a Bharatanatyam exponent. Apart from her mother, she also received training from several other legendary stalwarts. Presently, she is under the mentorship of acclaimed dansuese Malavika Sarukkai. She received a Bachelor"s Degree in Mass Communication from the University of California.
Career of Mythili Prakash
Known for featuring a happy blend of Western Stagecraft and Indian Aesthetics, Mythili has performed in various parts of India and abroad. She juggles her time between Los Angeles and Chennai. Mythili has performed as a soloist for many respected institutions of dance in India like the Music Academy, Krishna Gana Sabha, Narada Gana Sabha, Kalakshetra (Chennai), Shanmughanandan Sabha (Mumbai), India International Centre (Delhi) and Chowdiah Memorial Hall (Bangalore). She is a regular performer in the Madras Music Season.
In terms of international venues, she has performed in places like the United Kingdom, France, and Singapore. She was seen performing at various prestigious art venues like the Lowry, Manchester; and Musée Guimet, Paris, and Esplanade Theatres on the Bay, Singapore. In the year 2009, she was featured on NBC"s Superstars of Dance, as a Bharatanatyam soloist. This exposure gave her art form a world wide audience.
Achievements of Mythili Prakash
A number of awards and accolades were conferred on Mythili for her performances. Some of her achievements are as follows-
•She received the Creation to Performance Grant from the Irvine Dance Foundation for her work Stree Katha, the tragic heroines of the epic Ramayana, which has toured the USA, Canada, Europe, India, and Singapore.
•She received the Artistic Innovation Grant from the Center for Cultural Innovation for her work Shakti- the Sacred Force.
•In 2007, she received several accolades including Yuva Kala Bharati from Bharat Kalachar (Chennai); Sanskriti Nrithya Puraskar of Sanatan Sangeet Sanskriti (Delhi) and the Chandrasekharan Endowment Concert at Music Academy (Chennai).
•In 2009, she received Nadanamaamani Award from Karthik Fine Arts (Chennai).
•In 2011, she was honoured with the Devdasi National Award (Bhubaneswar).
