Bala Pyan
Bala Pyan was a 20th-century Burmese Aka Weizza who invented the Sandawgyein Aka. She was believed to be the reincarnation of Aung Bala, who was also a dancer.
Early life
Nan Shwe, or Sein Mya, was born on 27 June 1914 in,, Bago Township, Pegu Division to U Chan Aye and Naw Shwe Mi. She became interested in singing and dancing, and began learning traditional dance under Shwegon, a myay wine dancer, as well as from Ba Maung, a zat saya, and his wife Zawbyan in Mandalay.Career as a dancer
She started performing alongside Burma Sein and Naypyidaw Ba Thet when she was sixteen. Her best known partners were Sein Aung Min and. The Saopha of Hsipaw, Sao Kya Ohn, recognized her performance in the kinnara by awarding her, along with Bo Kay Sein, two silver swords and a silver bowl.She was honored with a gold medal and the title of Aka Weizza by Colonel Tun Sein of the socialist government for introducing a new dance into yoke thé shows in which the dancers imitated the movements of the marionettes. In 1969–1970 she introduced the Sandawgyein with partner Sein Aung Min.
Later years
Her final partner was Pantya Kyi Lin. She tutored at the Ministry of Culture in the cultural department and performed the bird-crooning dance in kinnara yein, raising the standard for yein dance. Along with Shwe Man Tin Maung and Sein Aung Min, she was sent on cultural exchange tours to China and Vietnam.She died in 1987 in Yangon.