About Mythili

Mythili Prakash’s innovative vision as a choreographer, combined with her powerful conviction as a performer, distinguishes her as one of the most respected contemporary Bharatanatyam artists today. Her work is unique – while rooted in the intricate and nuanced language of Bharatanatyam, it confronts the socio-political global world we live in today. 

Mythili is incisive in her approach, questioning cultural and social norms, while pushing the boundaries of her practice of the art form, particularly around femininity and aesthetics. Her creative inquiries are deeply personal and intersectional, drawing from her experiences as a mother, a first-generation child of immigrants, and a caste-privileged artist navigating her position as a woman of color in the United States. Mythili’s work resists simple categorization; it is as much about reclaiming tradition as it is about reimagining it.

Born and raised in Los Angeles, she grew up in an environment filled with dance and music, under the watchful eye of her mother and teacher, dance exponent Viji Prakash at the Shakti School of Bharata Natyam. Mythili has studied with several legendary stalwarts across the globe, including Malavika Sarukkai (India) and Akram Khan (UK).

Mythili has presented solo productions across the United States, Mexico, Canada, the United Kingdom, Europe, India, and Singapore, at renowned venues including Sadler’s Wells (London), the Music Academy (Chennai), Jacob’s Pillow (USA), and Esplanade Theatres (Singapore). She was featured as a Bharatanatyam soloist on NBC’s Superstars of Dance, introducing the form to global audiences, and appeared in Ang Lee’s Life of Pi as the wife of the titular character.

In 2019, Mythili was selected by Akram Khan as “Choreographer of the Future” for Dance Umbrella’s Four by Four Commissions, premiering her solo HERE and NOW at their festival. In 2021, Mythili received the National Dance Project touring grant from NEFA for She’s Auspicious, which premiered in Hamburg at the Reflektor Festival, curated by musician Anoushka Shankar. The work continues to tour internationally, garnering great praise from critics and audiences alike for its artistic merit and thought-provoking narrative. 

In 2022, she began a trilogy of works that examines notions of division, polarity, equity and acceptability through the re-imagining of an age-old myth — beginning with AR | DHA, commissioned for the 90th anniversary of Jacob’s Pillow, and concluding with ONE | ALL at the “Festival in Motion,” a groundbreaking site-specific dance festival surrounding the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar. She is a recipient of the Sky Arts Artist Development program in collaboration with Akram Khan Company for this body of work. 

Mythili is a 2023 United States Artists Fellow and has received several major awards including the Creation to Performance grant from the Irvine Dance Foundation and the Artistic Innovation grant from the Center for Cultural Innovation. She is also a 2024 United Artists Fellowship recipient. Most recently, her short dance film Mollika, commissioned by Sadler’s Wells Digital Stage, was nominated for a 2025 National Dance Award for Best Short Dance Film.

As a principal dancer with the Akram Khan Company, Mythili Prakash toured internationally in Outwitting the Devil (2019–2022) and Gigenis (2024–2025). She is currently on a world tour for Thikra: Night of Remembering, which premiered in January 2025 at Wadi AlFann, Valley of the Arts, in AlUla, Saudi Arabia.

Alongside various collaborations, Mythili continues to tour a selection of her own original works, including She’s Auspicious, AR | DHA, and Jwala, bringing her distinct choreographic voice to audiences around the globe.