Malaysia-born A Lakshman is one of the better known Bharatanatyam dancers and gurus in the field. He had his early training from Veera Venugopal of Bharata Kalanjali, Malaysia. After moving to Chennai, he became one of the star pupils of renowned guru KJ Sarasa. He soon started teaching at Sarasalaya, her school for Bharatanatyam.

Lakshman also learnt Carnatic music from Sarojini Sundaresan, a disciple of Alathoor Venkatesa Iyer.

Besides achieving remarkable success as a solo dancer, Lakshman has played a variety of roles in numerous dance dramas.

Lakshman founded his dance school Nrithyalakshana in 1994. Many of his students have gone on to become accomplished performers.

Lakshman has performed at all the leading Chennai sabhas and participated in a number of national dance festivals throughout the country. He has travelled extensively in France, USA, Malaysia, Singapore, UK and Japan. He is an empanelled “A” grade artist of ICCR and Doordarshan.

The awards he has received include:

- Best Dancer from The Indian Fine Arts Society

- Dharamavarapu Sitarama Anjaneyulu Prize

- Rohini Krishnan Award from Sri Krishna Gana Sabha

- Sri Narasimhachari and Smt. Vasanthalakshmi prize from NaradaGana Sabha

- Best Guru Award from The Madras Music Academy

He has to his credit the titles of:

 - Natanamamani from Kartik Fine Arts

 - Bharata Kala Ratna from Shree Bharatalaya

 - Yuva Kala Bharati from Bharat Kalachar

 - Swayam Prakasa Narthaka from Sarasalaya