Akash Mallick

🪔 About

Akash Mallick is an Indian classical dance performer-scholar, pedagogue, and researcher, deeply rooted in the traditions of Mārga Nāṭya and Kathakali. He holds a master's degree in performance studies from the University of Hyderabad. Mallick's artistic and academic journey is guided by the ancient wisdom of Bharata Muni's Nāṭyaśāstra, a Sanskrit treatise on performing arts. He is committed to exploring and reimagining traditional forms for contemporary audiences, viewing Mārga Nāṭya as a path of artistic realization through disciplined training and awakened awareness, connecting body, mind, space, and time. Mallick is a prominent practitioner of Mārga Nāṭya, a researched and reconstructed dance form based on the Nāṭyaśāstra, a tradition championed by his guru, Piyal Bhattacharya. He is recognized as Piyal Bhattacharya's first disciple in this discipline. Through his integrated practice of Āṅgika, Vācika, and Sāttvikābhinaya, he aims for the awakening of the performer's fullest potential, where performance becomes both embodied knowledge and a means of self-realization. Based primarily in Kolkata, India, Akash Mallick is associated with the Chidakash Kalalay Art Space, an institution dedicated to bringing the ancient wisdom of the Nāṭyaśāstra into the contemporary world. As an arts pedagogue and IB Dance educator, he also contributes to dance education. His performances include "BHIMA HANUMANA SAMVADA" at the Khajuraho Dance Festival in 2023 and participation in "Samāhāra - A Centenary Offering" in Kolkata in June 2026, a celebration commemorating Guru Kelucharan Mohapatra's birth centenary. He was also involved in the "Mahatatva" production in June 2024, which showcased five Indian classical dance forms. He has been featured in "THE NATYASHASTRA SERIES," engaging in dialogues about the essence of theatre and performance.