Sumathy Kaushal's parents Vaddadi Krishna Rao and Vaddadi Sowbhagyam, started sending her to Dance classes from the tender age of five. Sumathy, under the constant encouragement from parents, set her mind, heart and soul into learning Kuchipudi, Bharatanatyam and Odissi styles of dances. The accent was always on preserving the purity of the Indian Classical dance traditions.
A staunch believer of the merits of the Gurukul system, Sumathy has learnt from the Gurus, who represent the best Indian tradition and heritage by staying along with the Gurus. She has been trained Kuchupudi by Gurus like Guru Late Sri Vedantham Lakshminaryana Sastry, Guru Sri Vedantham Jagannadha Sharma, Guru Sri Chinta Krishna Murthy, Guru Sri Vedantham Satyanarayan Sharma, Bharatnatyam from Gurus like Guru Smt.K.J. Sarasa, Guru Sri Kalyanam Pillai, Odissi from Guru Sri Pankaj Charan Das.
In her performing career which was sustained for about fifty years, starting from the mid 1940s, she has performed at prestigious national and international occasions and venues. After the formation of a separate Andhra state, political leaders such as Neelam Sanjeeva Reddy, Kasu Brahmanda Reddy, Pattabhi Sitaramayya and others showed interest in promoting Kuchipudi as it represented Andhra regional identity. Sumathy was chosen to dance in the major cultural events where Kuchipudi was represented and her performances took place in parallel with hereditary artistes like Vedantam Satyanarayana Sarma and she became a much sought after artiste to perform at State Government organized functions and also popular religious festivals.
Paying Tributes In Profound Veneration and respect to the memory of Grand Parents, Parents, Paternal Uncles & Aunts and Husband Towards Elevating and Ennobling. Her journey into classical dance traditions.
In 1974 and 1981 Sumathy gave a number of performances all over USA, Zonta International Convention, The Telugu Association of North America, Indian Embassy Washington D.C were some of the notable hosting organizations. She has also been conferred upon an Honorary citizenship of City of Baltimore, USA. Sumathy is recognized by the Immigration and Naturalization Services USA as “an alien of extraordinary ability”. The Visual and Performing Arts Program at California State University, San Marcos offered her a faculty position as an artist in residence in dance.
In 1965 she started her own institute called Nritya Sikhara in Hyderabad and presented a large number of students both in India and abroad on the performing stage.Nritya Sikhara has become a pioneering dance institute with many achievements to its credit. To date, it has presented 116 Ranga Praveshams and Arangetrams in Kuchipudi and Bharatnatyam dance styles respectively.
Nritya Sikhara offers classes in Kuchipudi, Bharatanatyam, Odissi and MohiniAttam.