Esraa Warda, Dancer
"The slower you go, the sooner you get there"
Esraa Warda is a performance and teaching artist that preserves and transmits traditional Moroccan and Algerian dance forms through movement workshops and interactive performances. A young talent of Algerian origin, Warda is a community-taught dancer under the mentorship of women elders in her family and artists from Morocco and Algeria. She is a firm advocate in the power of intergenerational transmission, women-led traditions, and decolonizing euro-centricity, Orientalism, and oppressed bodies in dance.
Warda, meaning "rose" in Arabic, is a rebellious spirit who challenges patriarchy and misogyny towards women dancers in her community and also neo-colonialist impositions on North African culture. She is a cultural warrior driving North African dance styles out of the margins and into the global dance and culture scene.
TAP Work:
"I am currently transitioning into teaching elementary and middle school aged children culturally specific dance. TAP has been teaching me how to develop age-appropriate curriculums with the concept of 'universal learning'."
Most Memorable TAP Moment:
"My most memorable TAP moment was learning how to make paint from home spices. I remember doing this activity at my mothers house. We were both so fascinated at the idea that "less is more" - that we can work with what we have at home. It made the whole teaching process seem less daring and scary. It also made me feel that I would have definitely appreciated that activity as a young child."
Find out more about Esraa here: