Danseuse extraordinaire Dr. Mallika Sarabhai is one of India’s leading choreographers and dancers and the co-director of the avant-garde dance academy: Darpana Academy of Performing Arts. She holds a Ph.D. in Organisational Behaviour and an MBA from the Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad.

She is the recipient of the Padma Bhushan, India’s third-highest civilian honor, conferred to her by the Government of India in 2010. Always an activist for education, human rights, and women’s empowerment, Dr. Sarabhai began using her work for social change. In 1989 she created the first of her hard-hitting solo theatrical works, Shakti: The Power of Women. Since then, Dr. Sarabhai has created numerous stage productions that have raised awareness, highlighted crucial issues, and advocated change, several of which have toured internationally and throughout India.

In the mid-nineties, Dr. Sarabhai began to develop her own contemporary dance vocabulary and create short and full-length works presented throughout India and in over fifty countries of the world. She has been recognized as a cultural leader and global citizen by the World Economic Forum (Recipient of the Crystal Award at Davos, 2009).

She has also worked closely with UNESCO as part of the UNESCO Heritage Project in upholding the Gandhian values of non-violence, truth, and honesty.