Namrata Mehta

Namrata Mehta is a Mumbai-based Odissi dancer and senior disciple of Daksha Mashruwala. She began learning Odissi from Mashruwala at the age of six and has sustained more than 25 years of training in the form. Her documented academic preparation includes a diploma in Nrityashastra from Nalanda Dance Research Institute and a Master’s degree in Performing Arts (Odissi) from the University of Mumbai.

Her work is grounded in Odissi performance, pedagogy and choreography. She is Assistant Director of Kaishiki Nrityabhasha, the institution founded by Daksha Mashruwala, where she teaches young dancers, assists her guru’s choreographic work and contributes to the institute’s operation. She is also a Doordarshan-graded artiste and has been empanelled by the Indian Council for Cultural Relations since 2017.

Mehta has performed in India and internationally, including for the Indian Embassy at the Summer on Stross festival in Zagreb, in a cultural exchange with Taiwan’s Tjimur Dance Theatre, and as an ICCR cultural ambassador in Sri Lanka. Her recent repertory includes Ayudha – The Divine Arms, an Odissi work presented at the National Centre for the Performing Arts in Mumbai in December 2025.

Her recognitions include the Guru Kelucharan Mohapatra Yuva Pratibha Samman for Odissi in 2017 and the Sangeet Natak Akademi’s Ustad Bismillah Khan Yuva Puraskar for 2025 in Odissi. She remains active as a performer, teacher and institutional leader; the Ustad Bismillah Khan Yuva Puraskar was conferred on her on October 19, 2026.