Dr. Avanthi Meduri is a scholar/dancer/actress/playwright/curator and arts administrator. Born in India, she received her PhD in Performance Studies from the Tisch School of Arts, New York University, in 1996. Currently a Reader in Dance and Performance Studies, Meduri is Convener of the first post graduate South Asian Dance Studies Programme at Roehampton University, London. A Fellow at the International Research Centre, Freie University, Berlin, Meduri is co-founder of the Asian Performing Arts Forum, London, a consortia of three London Universities engaged with Asian dance, theatre and performance.

Recipient of several national and international awards and fellowships, Meduri has over 40 publications, among which a book on Rukmini Devi Arundale, which has seen several reprints.  In Summer 2016, Meduri curated the ICCR sponsored India-Europe Kuchipudi and folk arts festival which was presented in 7 countries around Europe. As a Ford Fellow, and Academic Director of the Centre for Contemporary Culture, New Delhi, Meduri curated the Rukmini Devi Arundale (1904-1986) photo-archive and presented it in India, Sri Lanka, Malaysia, Singapore, Australia, Japan and the UK (2003-2004).