Sailaja is one of the top Bharatanatyam and Kuchipudi format classical dancers of India. It is rare to find someone who has mastered both the forms of classical dances and has continuously excelled.
She trained under the legendary Guru K J Sarasa and has around three decades of experience in these fields. She has performed nationally as well as internationally in many forums. Her expansion of expression and untiring quest for excellence brought her to the legendary Guru of Kuchipudi – Pdmabhushan Dr. Vempati Chinna Satyam. Both the Gurus gave her the artistic foundation which has placed her on the high pedestal as one of top performing artist in the fields of Bharatanatyam and Kuchipudi. She is also the founder of the ‘Saila Sudha’ – An institution for the training of Bharatanatyam and Kuchipudi dancers which has numerous students learning these classical dances from India and abroad. It was a great pleasure to watch Sailaja perform and to photograph her performance which she gave on the occasion of a programme for paying homage to her Guru K J Sarasa – a programme which was organized by Sarasa’s senior disciples. Enjoy the pictures, Shankar Adisesh