Chithrasena has danced before maharajas, Queen Elizabeth II, dukes and duchesses, prime ministers, princesses, and kings.

Amaratunga Arachige Maurice Dias alias Chitrasena was born on 26 January 1921 at Waragoda, Kelaniya in Sri Lanka.

[3] His lectures on his visit to Sri Lanka, in 1934 had inspired a revolutionary change in the outlook of many educated men and women.

[3] In 1936, Chitrasena made his debut at the Regal Theatre at the age of 15 in the role of Siri Sangabo, the first Sinhala ballet produced and directed by his father.

Presented in Kandyan technique, Chitrasena played the lead role, and this made people take notice of the boy's talents.

The sprawling building was handed to him by Sir Ernest Fernando, a great patron of the arts – to pursue and further his artistic work.

The urban intelligentsia, nurtured as they were on pseudo- colonial values, frowned on things indigenous or at best with native curiosity.

They faced adversities including: indignities, insults, lack of patronage, a reluctant and disoriented public, little if any media coverage, oppositional leaflets circulated claiming that the traditional dance was being destroyed, and anonymous postcards.

Even the traditional dancers who were the proud custodians of an ancient heritage going back over 3,000 years looked on Chitrasena with derision.

In spite of the frustrations due to lack of patronage, they were years of fruitful exchange of ideas and experimentation activity.

Her rise to stardom was coupled with unswerving discipline and dedication both as teacher, performer, and choreographer, even as she illumined her husband's career.

Begun in a rented house gifted by philanthropist Sir E. P. A. Fernando, the Kalayatanaya building situated a few yards away from Kollupitiya junction, was the oasis of contemporary innovators who searched for new vistas in the aesthetic field.

[9] Other artists of the pioneering years included Somabandu, Edwin Samaradivakara, W. B. Makuloluwa, Lionel Algama, Somadasa Elvitigala, R L Wimaladharma, and Shelton Premaratne.

[1] In 1998, the then President of Sri Lanka, Chandrika Kumaranatunga, bequeathed some land on Park Road/ Elvitigala Mawatha, Colombo 05, to establish a permanent location for the Kalayathanaya.

He challenged the mood of the 30s and 40s and influenced the mind of a generation, establishing himself as an artiste unparalleled in the dance annals of this country.

Chitrasena steered the course of dance along uncharted paths infusing it with a dynamism that flowed from his visionary seal and dedication, creating a distinct yet meaningful medium of expression.

The Chitrasena Dance Company has won repute and fame that is international and received rave reviews for their productions both here and abroad.

[2][14] Somewhere between Chitrasena's ballets Nala Damayanthi and Karadiya (Sea Water), and in some ways on a tangent to the completeness of their cycle, came the creations of Vasantha Kumar's Kumburu Panatha (The Paddy Lands Bill) and Hiroshima, together with Prema Kumar's Thiththa Batha (Bitter Rice); socio-political essays given a ballet form.

[3] The first tour to Australia of the Chitrasena Ballet was in 1963 under the patronage of the Australian Elizabethan Theatre Trust, where after their initial performance at the Festival of Perth, they presented seasons in Sydney, Melbourne, Launceston and Hobart.

[15] Produced and directed by its founder, Chitrasena, and led by him and his wife, Vajira, the company presented two programs in their inaugural Australian tour.