Raï Dance Workshop with Esraa Warda

July 8, 2023 | 1:00pm TO 2:00pm

Workshop

This event is free and requires an RSVP. Tickets will be released two weeks prior to the event here.

Join us for a dance workshop by artist and educator Esraa Warda. This workshop will explore the movement of Raï, the popular, grass-roots music of West Algeria associated with social protest. Raï music is rebel blues - it challenges the religious, the colonial, the social, and the acceptable status quo and therefore has been historically disenfranchised by colonialists and local Algerian nation-state. Despite its marginalization, it has been a symbol of soulfulness, freedom, and groove. Participants will learn Raï "groove" through rhythmic and fundamental footwork. The workshop is open to people of all experience levels.

After the workshop, join us for a Raï dance performance at 6 pm by Esraa Warda and percussionist Fella Oudane. No RSVP required.

Esraa wearing a black dress with her hands on her hips against a blue background

Facilitator

Esraa Warda

Esraa Warda is New York's emerging dance artist and educator specializing in Algerian & Moroccan traditional dance forms. A child of the Algerian diaspora, Warda is a cultural warrior advocating for the representation & preservation of North African women-led dance traditions and the decolonization of euro-centricity, orientalism, and patriarchy in dance. Her dance workshops and lectures have trailblazed their way to educational institutions such as Cornell University, Wellesley College, King's College (London), and University of Ottawa. She performs with notable North African women's groups such as Rai icon Cheikha Rabia (Paris), and Bnat el Houariyat (Marrakech) and often performs internationally in New York, Paris, Belgium, Casablanca, and London.