Chandrika is of Sri Lankan heritage and comes from a background of music, dancing and singing. She received her dance tutelage from Rajini Selvanayagam in her home country. Chandrika is a mainstay of the Darwin Sri Lankan and wider cultural community. She has choreographed and taught in Darwin since 1989. Her work has been displayed at Sri Lankan community events, such as New Year celebrations, India at Mindil, Harmony, and Temple events.

Besides directing her own dance troupe – The Multicultural Academy, she has also been an active Tracks dance participant for over a decade. She has performed, choreographed, completed the Choreographic Development Course, and as a community leader she participated in our Cultural Mapping Project, and Hidden Meaning performance and forum.

In 2018, Tracks major work, In Your Blood, drew on Chandrika's real-life story of having strong Sri Lankan culture with a son obsessed with cricket. By joining this story to a similar one of Putu Desak Warti - Balinese with an Australian rules football obsessed son, we were able to see how our culture is both in our blood handed down by our parents, as well as developed in the place we find ourselves.

“Your dance is in your body." 
"Now I know a lot of the leaders of these cultures and I am so proud to be in their circle.” 

Tracks works Chandrika has been involved in:

2005 Arafura Games Opening Ceremony
2006 Without Sea
2012 Eight to Eighty - The Architecture of Age
2013 Cultural Mapping Project
2014 Choreographic Development – Double Exposure
2015 Hidden Meaning
2016 Big Dance
2018 In Your Blood