An accomplished artist, Mythili Kumar performed extensively in India before moving to the U.S. in 1978 and founding Abhinaya Dance School in 1980. Her artistic ability and the high quality of her dance choreography have been recognized in the U.S where she has been awarded several Choreographer’s Fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts. In 2002 the Shiva Vishnu Temple of Livermore awarded her the title, ‘Abhinaya Kala Ratna’ for her dedicated service to dance. Bharath Kalachar in Chennai awarded her the title ‘Viswa Kala Bharati’ in 1999. In 2010 she was honored by World Arts West with the Malonga Casquelord Lifetime Achievement Award and received a Sustained Achievement Award from the Bay Area Isadora Duncan Award committee in 2011. She received the 2015 Legacy Laureate Award from SVCreates for her sustained dedication to dance. In 2019, Bharathi Tamil Sangam honoured Mythili Kumar with a title 'Nadana Shirormani' for her invaluable contributions to the Bharatanatyam art form. She was honoured with the title “Smaran Kala Kaushala" during the Smaran dance festival and was honored with the 2019 Inspire Award by India Community cemter (ICC) the same year.