He is said to have been the only male artist in the Burmese dramatic arts industry who could perfectly perform as a female dancer.

[1] Aung Bala, the youngest of four siblings,[note 1] was born on 18 February 1883 in Hsinpyukyun, Magwe Region to U Lu Gyi, a puppeteer, and Me Pwint.

Years later he became popular in the Hsinpyukyun area, performing at the local yein (choreographed group dance).

[2] He studied under Ma Htwe Lay in Mandalay[3] and was the first to dance in the styles known as Toke Kyoe and three-timing (စည်းသုံးကြိုး ဝါးသုံးကြိုး).

[6] The Aung Bala mont (အောင်ဗလမုန့်), a Burmese-style rice pancake topped with syrup, is named in honor of Aung Bala,[7][8][9] as is a style of tin box.