Mrinalini Sarabhai, founder of the Darpana Academy, was an exponent of which dance forms?

Explanation

Mrinalini Sarabhai (1918-2016) was a famous dancer, choreographer and teacher who was trained in both Bharatanatyam and Kathakali. She founded the Darpana Academy of Performing Arts in Ahmedabad in 1949, which became one of the leading centres of dance, music and theatre in India.

Mrinalini Sarabhai was born in Kerala, into a distinguished family. Her mother, Ammu Swaminathan, was a member of the Constituent Assembly, and her sister, Lakshmi Sahgal, was a captain in Subhas Chandra Bose's Indian National Army. She studied at Santiniketan under Rabindranath Tagore and learnt Bharatanatyam from gurus such as Meenakshisundaram Pillai and Kathakali from Thakazhi Kunchu Kurup. In 1942, she married the physicist Vikram Sarabhai, who later founded the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO). She created more than 300 dance-dramas and choreographies, many of which dealt with social issues. In 1968, she was awarded a gold medal by the Mexican government for her choreography for the Ballet Folklorico of Mexico. Her daughter, Mallika Sarabhai, is also a famous dancer and activist. She received the Padma Shri (1965) and the Padma Bhushan (1992).

Why not the other options?

• ✗Kathak and Odissi are the classical dances of North India and Odisha.
• ✗Manipuri and Sattriya are the classical dances of Manipur and Assam.
• ✗Kuchipudi and Mohiniyattam are the classical dances of Andhra Pradesh and Kerala.
• ✗Good to know
• ✗Mrinalini Sarabhai was not mainly known for any of these pairs.