Teacher

Usha Balasundaram was born and grew up in Kerala, South India. Dance and music have always been her passion. She danced from her early childhood. At the age of 19, after finishing her education at the high school, she joined the famous dance institution Kalakshetra College of Fine Arts in Chennai, India. Usha wanted to put her love for dance on a higher level and became a professional bharatanatyam dancer. She continued the intense dance training for four years and graduated with the Awarded Diploma of Bharatanatyam.

 After receiving the diploma, Usha joined Chandralekha's Dance Group and travelled all around the world giving outstanding performances on many big stages, for example, in New York, Los Angeles, Tokyo, Djakarta, Hamburg, Avignon and Rio de Janeiro. Chandralekha is a world famous choreographer in bharatanatyam, She was initially trained by Guru Kanchipuram Ellappa Pillai. Over the years, Chandralekha has made an important contribution to contemporary dance as a choreographer of exceptional merit. Utilizing the resources of bharatanatyam, kalaripayattu (martial arts) and yoga, she has attempted to create a dance language informed with contemporary sensibility and vitality. Chandralekha and her group have performed widely in India and abroad winning national and international recognition at various festivals and workshops.

 In 1997, Usha got married and moved with her husband to Sweden, where she currently lives in Stockholm. In 2002 she opened her own bharatanatyam dance school called Saraswathy Kalakendra Institution of Fine Arts, where her students can learn the fascinating beauty and gracefulness of the Indian classical dance.