Raka Maitra graduated with a diploma in Performing Arts from the Children’s Little Theatre, Kolkata. She then went on to specialize in Odissi under Padmashree Madhavi Mudgal and the legendary Guru Kelucharan Mahapatra, as well as Serraikella Chhau under Guru Sashadhar Acharya. Raka calls herself a dancer without the classifications of classical or contemporary. Her journey is an exploration, and in her works one will find various influences of Odissi, Chhau ,Kalari and Yoga.

Raka received the Shringarmai, a national level award, for Odissi from the Sur Shringar Sampad in Mumbai in 1999, and has been featured in many important festivals around the world, such as the “Mystique Of India” festival in Washington, the “2nd International Odissi festival” in Washington, “Nrityanjali” in Kiev, the “India Festival” at Salamanca, the “Jhankar Festival” in Virginia, the “Cahaya Sutra” in Kuala Lumpur, and the “India Festival” in Sao Paolo.

In the last few years, Raka has organised and co-choreographed the contemporary production ‘Masks of Gods’ at Kamani in Delhi, and choreographed and produced ‘Karmayoga’ at Esplanade Theatre Studio. Raka also co-organised the “Grey Festival - where nothing’s black or white”, a contemporary Indian dance festival with performances, workshops, screening and forum.

Current initiatives of Raka include the exploration of the different dimensions of Indian contemporary dance, the creation of movements from Odissi and Chhua under the mentorship of Sardon W. Kusumo, as well as research on how the different martial art forms in India developed into stylized dance forms. She also continues her Odissi training under Smt. Madhavi Mudgal and Daksha Mashruwala.