Lavanya learnt Bharatanatyam under the tutelage of the reknowned dancer Padmashri Sudharani Raghupathy at Shree Bharatalaya, a premier institute of fine arts and dance in India,. She had her formal stage debut (Rangapravesham) in 1992, and has performed extensively since then. She has been trained in classical music by Shri Seetharama Sharma, and later by Shri. Srinivasa Iyengar and Padmabhushan Vidwan Madurai Shri. N. Krishnan. She has also undergone intensive training in nattuvangam under her guru at Shree Bharatalaya, and has conducted several performances wielding the nattuvangam.

Lavanya has won critical acclaim for her performances in the Chennai and international stages. She is a graded artiste on Doordarshan, the national television network of India. Lavanya has also featured in leading roles in all the ballet productions of Shree Bharatalaya, including 'Ramayanam', 'Shakthi Prabhavam', 'Krishnam Vande Jagatgurum' and 'Vande Guham Umasutham'. These have been staged within and outside Chennai, in prestigious cultural events such as the Natyanjali dance festivals in Chidambaram and Perur, and in music and dance festivals in various Sabhas in Chennai, Madurai, Bangalore, Vijayawada, Coimbatore etc.  Lavanya was part of the team in the video production of 'Ramayanam' by the Center of Cultural Resources and Training (CCRT), Govt. of India. She has performed in the production 'Varnam - a Myriad of Hues of Bharatanatyam', in collaboration with Srishti Dances of India, at Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, USA, and has performed individually and in collaboration with other artistes at several other venues in the United States.

Lavanya holds a PhD. in Biochemistry, and is on the faculty of the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston.