For the love of dancing

Kuchipudi Artist Challa Bala Tripura Sundari, from Tenali, gave her first performance at the age of six. Since then dancing and academics went together until the day came when she had to decide between the passsion of life and the call of academics with a software engineer's job on hand.

After some time in the job that she had taken up, she listened to the inner voice which voted for a career in dancing and spurned the world of software engineering in which she saw the life of drudgery. Her parents have been very supportive of the change and she has never looked back ever since.

Speaking to 'The Hans India' she says that dancing brings one closer to God and that she had found fullfillment in life through dancing. One can give joy and a message of comfort to weary souls through a dance performance.

Bala grew step by step in mastering the Kuchipudi dance form with determination, perseverance and unbounded love for the art of dancing. She started dancing at the age of four. Her parents sent her to a dance teacher in their neighbourhood.

At the early age of six she made a debut in dance. This first performance encouraged her to develop more interest in dancing. By the time she completed her Intermediate she acquired diplomas in ‘Yaksha Gana’ and ‘Kuchipudi’ dance systems.

While attaining degree in Nagarjuna University she won laurels in Kuchipudi dance successively for three years. She bagged a gold medal for creative dance performance in the south zone inter university competitions.

She earned accolades for her performance in Kuchipudi, Bharatnatyam, Andhra natyam, Folk lore dances. She continued her M.Sc in computer science in Nagarjuna University while growing up to become the noted dancer of Andhra.

She took part in Mysore Pallavostavam and dance celebrations at Thanjavur apart from a host of performances at programmes organized by the public sector companies in different parts of the country. She gave special performances in Island tourism festival and the silver jubilee celebrations of the South zone cultural centre organized by the Department of culture, Government of India.

Her favourite dance forms include ‘Narayana Theertha Taramgalu’. Astapadas of Yaydev hyms of Thyagaraj and Kshetrayya and Astakam. She is also a recognized artist of Doora Darshan. She draws inspiration from god Nataraja.