When I met her, I had an immediate sense of warmth and curiosity. She speaks with energy and insight, but also with the layered thoughtfulness of someone who has lived inside her art since childhood.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe\u2019s Auspicious\u201d by Mythili Prakash \u2013 Photo by Chuck Bigger.<\/p>\n A Childhood Inside Dance <\/p>\n \u201cMy parents started a dance school in Los Angeles after moving from India,\u201d she explains. \u201cSo I grew up surrounded by dance\u2014it was always happening in the house, from even before I was born.\u201d<\/p>\n Her mother, Viji Prakash<\/a>, a dancer and founder of the Shakti School of Dance along with Mythili\u2019s father Kikkeri Prakash, built what would become a cornerstone of the Indian dance community in Los Angeles. For Mythili, dance was not introduced\u2014it felt inherited.<\/p>\n \u201cI always say it was my first language.\u201d<\/p>\n As she informed me, the term Natyam is a Sanskrit<\/a> word for \u201ctheatre\u201d.<\/p>\n I followed through with further seeking (on Wikipedia):\u00a0 The compound word Bharatanatyam connotes a dance that harmoniously expresses bhava (feelings, emotions) , raga (melody, Framework for musical notes) and tala (rhythm) that translates as \u201cthe dance of Bharata\u201d reputed to be the author of the Natya Shastra<\/a>, a Sanskrit text of performance arts.<\/p>\n Alongside movement came storytelling\u2014passed down through family, culture, and the structure of Bharatanatyam itself. \u201cIn Indian culture, stories are how you learn lessons,\u201d she explained. \u201cSo dance and storytelling were always intertwined for me.\u201d<\/p>\n By the age of eight, Mythili was already performing solo works\u2014full-length programs that demanded discipline, stamina, and emotional depth.<\/p>\n \u201cIt built a sense of responsibility early,\u201d she reflects. \u201cIf you don\u2019t practice, you\u2019re the one who suffers on stage.\u201d<\/p>\n But growing up inside performance also meant growing up inside the body\u2014in real time.<\/p>\n \u201cThere were a lot of physical challenges,\u201d she says. \u201cYou\u2019re performing constantly while your body is changing. There\u2019s a bond with the form, but it\u2019s not always a happy relationship. It\u2019s love\u2026and frustration.\u201d<\/p>\n That tension, between devotion and resistance, would become a defining force in her artistic voice.<\/p>\n \u201cShe\u2019s Auspicious\u201d by Mythili Prakash \u2013 Photo by Chuck Bigger.<\/p>\n India, Identity, and Choosing the Path<\/p>\n Though deeply immersed in dance, Prakash did not immediately commit to it as a career.<\/p>\n \u201cI thought I\u2019d pursue something else,\u201d she admits. \u201cI didn\u2019t want something I loved so much to become something I depended on.\u201d\u00a0 My parents, after I graduated from UC Berkeley, convinced me to spend some time considering my decision for the future.\u00a0 \u201cIt turned out to be six months in India\u201d\u2026\u00a0 \u201cand It was a turning point for me.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWhen I came back, I knew.\u00a0 There was no way I could do this half way.\u201d<\/p>\n She returned to India to train intensively under the legendary Malavika Sarukkai<\/a>; an experience that deepened both her technique and her artistic inquiry.<\/p>\n Mythili Prakash in \u201cShe\u2019s Auspicious\u201d \u2013 Photo by Daniel Ditius.<\/p>\n Between Two Worlds<\/p>\n Prakash\u2019s work lives in a compelling duality: One deeply rooted in Bharatanatyam, yet unmistakably contemporary.<\/p>\n \u201cI feel both American and Indian,\u201d she says. \u201cThe way my body moves, the way I think\u2014it\u2019s shaped by both.\u201d<\/p>\n This duality soon found resonance in the work of the brilliant choreographer Akram Khan, whose blending of classical Indian forms with contemporary dance opened a new pathway for her.<\/p>\n \u201cI just wrote to him,\u201d she recalls\u2026 almost casually.<\/p>\n That email led to an invitation to perform at London\u2019s Sadler\u2019s Wells, and eventually to an ongoing artistic relationship. What began informally, evolved into mentorship and later, collaboration.<\/p>\n \u201cHe doesn\u2019t mentor in a formal way,\u201d she says. \u201cBut through the work, through the questions\u2014it became a mentorship.\u201d<\/p>\n Mythili Prakash in \u201cShe\u2019s Auspicious\u201d \u2013 Photo courtesy of BroadStage.<\/p>\n Beyond Technique: Toward Truth<\/p>\n What is immediately striking, watching Prakash dance, is not just her command of form, but her willingness to move beyond it.<\/p>\n \u201cI think the form gives you the foundation,\u201d she says. \u201cBut you can\u2019t get stuck there.\u201d<\/p>\n Her work resists the polished perfectionism often associated with the classical traditions.<\/p>\n \u201cI started questioning this idea of refinement,\u201d she explains. \u201cThe perfect line, the perfect image\u2014it began to feel\u2026 false.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cDuring the pandemic, stripped of costume, jewelry, and theatrical framework, I found a new freedom.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThere was a literal weight lifted,\u201d she says. \u201cAnd I started asking\u2014who is all this adornment for?\u201d<\/p>\n Mythili Prakash in \u201cShe\u2019s Auspicious\u201d \u2013 Photo courtesy of BroadStage.<\/p>\n Asking the Hard Questions<\/p>\n Her current work, She\u2019s Auspicious, emerged during the pandemic\u2014not as a performance piece, but as a process of inquiry.<\/p>\n \u201cI wasn\u2019t trying to make something polished,\u201d she says. \u201cI was trying to sit with questions.\u201d<\/p>\n Those questions are not small ones. They touch on: caste and power structures within Bharatanatyam; the legacy of erasure in the form; the role of women in mythology and society; and the tension between beauty and violence.<\/p>\n At the center of the work is the figure of the goddess\u2014particularly the story of \u201cDurga\u201d created by male gods to defeat a demon they themselves could not destroy.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s often told as an empowering story,\u201d Prakash says. \u201cBut I started asking\u2014why does she have to be created? Why does she only exist as a solution to a problem?\u201d<\/p>\n Her interrogation goes further\u2014into how femininity itself is constructed.<\/p>\n \u201cThe goddess is always the mother,\u201d she explains. \u201cShe\u2019s not sexualized, not complex in the same way male gods are. And even that\u2014being placed on a pedestal\u2014can be limiting.\u201d<\/p>\n She also examines the physical representation of the female body in classical imagery.<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s one ideal\u2014full breasts, tiny waist,\u201d she says. \u201cBut whose gaze is that? Who is creating that image?\u201d<\/p>\n Mythili Prakash in \u201cShe\u2019s Auspicious\u201d \u2013 Photo courtesy of BroadStage.<\/p>\n Allowing Rage<\/p>\n Perhaps the most radical shift in Prakash\u2019s work is her willingness to remain inside emotional states that classical forms often stylize or resolve.<\/p>\n \u201cIn traditional storytelling, there\u2019s always a resolution,\u201d she says. \u201cBut nothing felt resolved.\u201d<\/p>\n In her reimagining of Durga, the warrior does not quickly return to serenity.<\/p>\n \u201cShe\u2019s on a battlefield,\u201d Prakash says. \u201cShe\u2019s killing, she\u2019s in a state of rage. What happens if we stay there? What does it mean to see a woman in that space\u2014not controlled, not contained?\u201d<\/p>\n An Evolving Work<\/p>\n She\u2019s Auspicious continues to evolve.<\/p>\n What began as a solo exploration during the pandemic has grown into a full ensemble work, shaped over years of iteration, collaboration, and audience feedback.<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t believe in a fixed piece,\u201d she says. \u201cEvery time I come back to it, it changes.\u201d<\/p>\n Even her process reflects this philosophy\u2014sharing works-in-progress over Zoom, inviting response, allowing meaning to emerge through dialogue.<\/p>\n \u201cPeople see things you didn\u2019t know you put there,\u201d she says. \u201cAnd that deepens the work.\u201d<\/p>\n Mythili Prakash in \u201cShe\u2019s Auspicious\u201d \u2013 Photo by courtesy of BroadStage.<\/p>\n From Technician to Artist<\/p>\n As our conversation comes to a close, what lingers is not just the scope of her inquiry, but the courage behind it.<\/p>\n Because what Mythili Prakash is ultimately doing is something every artist must face: moving from mastery of form\u2026to ownership of voice.<\/p>\n She does not reject tradition\u2014she questions it, lives inside it, and pushes it forward.<\/p>\n And in doing so, she reminds us of something essential:<\/p>\n Technique may shape the dancer.\u00a0 But it is truth\u2014messy, searching, unresolved\u2014that shapes the artist.<\/p>\n \u201cShe\u2019s Auspicious\u201d performs at the BroadStage in Santa Monica Saturday April 4, at 7:00 p.m. For more information and to purchase tickets, please visit the BroadStage website<\/a>.<\/p>\n![\""She's](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Copy-of-SA-CS-fixing-Goddess-head_Chuck-Bigger-1024x683.jpg\")
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