Dancer Soma Mondal from Bengal performs Bharatanatyam at the India International Dance Festival at Bhanja Kala Mandap in Bhubaneswar.

The festival started on Thursday with Mondal's performance who mesmerised the audience with her facial expressions.

Kuchipudi by Nichita Jamwale from Hyderabad and Bharatnatyam by Tapaswini Bhattacharya from Bengal were also appreciated.

A number of dance forms such as tribal, folk and classical, including Bharatanatyam, Kathak, Kuchipudi, Odissi, Manipuri, Mohiniattam and Sattriya, will be performed during the festival.

Hosted by Samskritiki, a 27-year-old cultural society of Odisha, the festival aims to unite dancers from various parts of the country and discover the cultural roots of the dance tradition through their performances.

The festival will include seminars, screening of films and documentaries on dance, exhibition of books, journals, brochures, DVDs and photographs on dance.