Bhubaneswar, Oct. 26: From five-year-old wonder kids to cancer-surviving dancer Jhumpa Chakraborty, participants at the India International Dance Festival are scripting success stories with passion and dedication.

Chakraborty has been teaching Kathak in Muscat for 19 years. Trained under many eminent gurus, including Munna Lal Shukla and Pandit Birju Maharaj, Chakraborty excels at innovating and experimenting with choreography. Though she was detected with cancer a few years ago, she never gave up dancing.

"I could not imagine life without Kathak. When I came to know about the illness, I was determined to fight it. I realised the worth of dance and life and became even more dedicated," said the 46-year-old danseuse whose troupe Leelangika featured her choreography at the performance this evening.

Chakraborty never stopped dancing during the two years she was fighting cancer.

Two young dancers, Srinika Purohit and Sai Shriya, have left the audience in awe with their performance.

At the age of five, they have outshined many of their seniors in classical dance forms.

Odia girl Srinika has already earned the title of a wonder kid for her captivating Odissi performances since the age of three, while Shriya has set many world records for being the youngest dancer to perform Bharatnatyam and Kuchipudi solo on stage.

"When I'm on stage, I enjoy what I do like I'm at a playground. I love to dress up and dance," said Srinika, who inaugurated this year's festival with a performance, which also featured her mother, Sonalika Padhi, yesterday. She lives with her parents in Bangalore and learns dancing from her mother.

Shriya, the tiny tot from Visakhapatnam, is swift at striking a pose for the viewers at the festival who wish to capture her on their cameras.

"I enjoy dancing and travelling to new places to perform on stage," she said.

The inspirational artistes are garnering applause and appreciation from the audience and members of the dance fraternity at the Bhanja Kala Mandap, the festival venue. The three-day festival, which will come to an end tomorrow, features over 200 artistes.

Shyamhari Chakra, the festival director, said: "Our attempt has been to bring talented dancers from different countries and across all age groups to this year's festival. Our motive is to provide the maximum exposure to the local artistes and inspire them to perform better." This is the second edition of the international dance festival.

"Chakraborty is really inspiring. She is not only a wonderful choreographer, but her cheerfulness is also contagious. As an artiste, I get to learn a lot from her as well as the little dancers here who are passionate about their art," said Pallavi Das, 28, a city-based Odissi dancer and the granddaughter of Adi Guru Pankaj Charan Das.