For dancer Srekala Bharath who has been in the field for 57 years, dance is a way of life. This beautiful, dedicated and passionate dancer who has captivated audiences across the globe with her technical precision, intense abhinaya and graceful movements was born to C R Krishnamachari and Indira. Her siblings include Srikanth, the famous cricketer who played for team India and Srinath, a businessman.

Her schooling was done in Vidya Mandir and at Vidyodaya in the ICSE section. She followed it up with a degree in Economics at Ethiraj College and a diploma in Travel & Tourism at the Cultural Academy in Santhome.

Srekala embarked on her journey of dance when she was barely seven years old and her parents enrolled her in a dance school. She remembers her illustrious guru K J Sarasa who took her into her fold with open arms. Her arangetram was done at the age of 10 and since then, there has been no looking back.

Marriage with cricketer Bharath Kumar took place when she was in the first year of college and the couple were blessed with son Abhishek two years later.

Marriage and motherhood did not deter her from continuing in her journey of dance. In fact her mother-in-law Jaya Krishnan, a musician and father-in-law, M R Krishnan, an advocate encouraged her a lot. Her mother-in-law even took care of Abhishek when Srekala had to travel.
With more than 900 stage performances to her credit, both in national and international arenas, solo and as a group, her impressive milestone of 57 years in dance is applaudable.

Thejas School of Performing Arts took form in Chennai in 1999 where Srekala has trained more than 400 students. Thejas is located at her home in Karpagam Avenue. Her students are doing exceptionally well and some of them have received awards too.

She says ‘‘There is no greater joy for a guru than seeing her students being bestowed with awards for their dance prowess.’’
For those who are abroad and wish to learn dance, she conducts classes on Skype. Her DVDs on the concepts of learning the basics of Bharatanatyam together with margam, invocatory terms and a couple of varnams have been helpful to many.

Dance has taken her across the globe to more than 32 countries where she staged her unique interpretation of Bharatanatyam. As a notable dancer, she is also a regular performer at the Chennai City Sabhas throughout the year especially during the December Music and Dance festival.

The Government of India has recognised her talent and achievements in dance and has conferred senior fellowship on Srekala. Besides this, she has won numerous awards and accolades including the Kalaimamani award from the Tamil Nadu Government and Bharata Ratnam from the Government of Sri Lanka. During the Cleveland Thyagaraja Festival in April 2024, she was bestowed with the prestigious Nrithya Ratnakara. Another award which is close to her heart is the Nrithya Perunjothi awarded by ABHAI-Association of Bharatanatyam artistes of India in June 2024.

Her coffee table book titled ‘’Yatra’’ which was released in July 2019, showcases her journey of 5 decades in dance.

Currently she is busy with Thejas Bala Natyotsav, an annual event conducted by her dance school Thejas as a platform for talented young dancers from other dance schools in the age group of 8 to 12 years. This is the 17th year of the Natyotsav.

Her recent performances on May 2nd at the Kapaleeswarar Temple in Mylapore and on May 9th at IIT Madras were enthralling. The one at IIT was an interactive session and while the students from different schools thoroughly enjoyed the session, Srekala was overwhelmed with their response.

One more award will be added to her kitty shortly. Srekala is eagerly looking forward to receive the Vazhuvoor Ramaiah Pillai Award of excellence in Bharatanatyam in Coimbatore on July 12th.
Her advice to the current generation is to learn one Classical art as it teaches discipline and also gets one to learn history and mythology.

She says, “The 3 D’s Devotion, Dedication and Determination together with the fourth D-Destiny and God’s grace will pay rich dividends. While this is applicable to any field, more so in a performing art, every talent has its day.’’

Besides dance, reading and watching films and shows on Netflix are part of her agenda. When time permits, she manages to catch up with an IPL cricket match to watch Chennai Super Kings in action. She enjoys spending time with her son Abhishek, daughter-in-law Richa and grandson Archit, a class 7 student of Vidya Mandir.

With a need to keep fit, only healthy food especially a lot of green leafy vegetables are part of her diet. Her comfort food includes steamed poha upma, dal, rasam and arisi upma kozhukattai.

With her rich experience in dance and 27 years in teaching this beautiful art form, Srekala does not just dance but lives and breathes the art.

– Juliana Sridhar is a lawyer and columnist.