Background
She was born into a Brahmin family in Mayuram, India.
She was born into a Brahmin family in Mayuram, India.
She was discovered at age four by Tamil film director Anugrah Narayan Kalyanasundaram Iyer when he attended a dance recital.
Initially featured as a child dancer, Kamala appeared in almost 100 Tamil, Hindi, Telugu and Kannada films throughout her career. In the 1970s, she became a teacher of the Vazhuvoor style of dance in which she specialises. Her sisters Radha and Vasanti are also dancers.
At an early age Kamala began taking lessons in the Kathak dance style from Lachhu Maharaj in Bombay.
She also took lessons in Hindustani classical music from Shankar Rao Vyas. He cast her in small roles in his films Valibar Sangam (1938) and Ramanama Mahimai (1939) where she was billed as Baby Kamala.
Her dancing was noticed by other filmmakers and she moved to Hindi films with Kismet and Ram Rajya in 1943. Kamala"s first role in a successful Tamil film came in 1944 with Jagathalaprathapan where she performed the Paampu attam.
Kamala played a double role in her next film Sri Valli (1945) and also played Krishna in the film Meera.
However, it was her film Nam Iruvar that would make an impact on Tamil cinema. The film is credited with sparking a "cultural revolution" throughout the Tamil speaking areas of India. In 1953, Kamala was invited to perform for Queen Elizabeth II during her coronation festivities.
In the late 1950s she toured internationally, performing in China and Japan.
She also taught dance for two terms at Colgate University after being awarded its Branta Professorship in 1975. In 1980, Kamala moved to New York permanently and began teaching classical dance.
She established a dance school in Long Island, Shri Bharatha Kamalalaya. In 2010 she received a National Heritage Fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts for her contributions to the arts
Nam Iruvar was full of patriotism and Gandhian songs, and its dances helped to revitalize and legitimize Bharatanatyam.