Maya Rao Biography 
Maya Rao was a Kathak exponent and legendary choreographer from Malleswaram, Bangalore. She was fondly called Maya Didi by her students. She choreographed and performed several dance ballets, popularizing the dance form in south India also. She received advanced training in Kathak under Guru Shambhu Maharaj of Lucknow Gharana at National Institute of Kathak Dance in Delhi. In 1989 Government of India honoured her with Sangeet Natak Akademi Award. She is the founder director of the dance school - "Natya and Stem Dance Kampni" apart Natya Institute of Kathak and Choreography, Malleswaram she opened in the year 1987.
She was born in Malleswaram, Bangalore in 1928. Her father Sanjeev Rao was a renowned architect of the city. She had 6 siblings. She was born into a traditional Brahmin family where girls were not allowed to dance or sing. Yet she learnt Hindustani music and instrumental dilruba from Rama Rao. When she was 12 she got opportunity to watch Uday Shankar's dance troupe perform at BRV Talkies auditorium in Bangalore alongside her father. Deeply influenced by it, Sanjeev Rao decided to give dance training to his daughters.
She received initial training from Pandit Ramarao Naik’s dance school at Benson, Bangalore. Her younger sisters received training in Kathak from Guru Sohanlal. At the age of 12, she also started training. But her father made her promise not to perform on stage, which she broke later. She gave a first performance in 1944 and her father didn’t object. Her major performance happened in 1947, when she got opportunity to perform in a club started by her, while at college. Prior to it her father passed away following his huge loss in business. Later she also started teaching Kathak to financially support the family.
In 1951 she moved to Jaipur where she started her career as an English lecturer. She then moved to Sri Lanka, where she got opportunity to learn Kandyan dance from the exponent, Chitrasena. Later she received scholarship to study under Shambhu Maharaj of the Lucknow Gharana at the Bharatiya Kala Kendra, New Delhi. She was the first student of Kala Kendra. She was in Delhi for many years before she moved back to Bangalore where she opened dance school and continued with her performances and teaching.
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Updated: April 24, 2016
