Click on the title of the workshop to book your FREE place.
11am – 12pm Assimi (Algerois) Dance Workshop (1hr)
This workshop will explore the movement of la danse Algéroise, the Andalusian-influenced music style from the capital city of Algiers. Algéroise is a classic traditional style representing the essence of “Alger La Blanche” or “El Behdja” – the port city of Algiers that is distinct in its white colonial architecture bedded across the blue Mediterranean. This dance is feminine, while heavily rhythmic and meditative. Students will learn to dance with thoughtful intention and coordination of “les mouchoirs” (handkerchiefs) in their hands.
To bring: Bring 2 handkerchiefs or tissues
12pm – 1pm – Chaoui Dance Workshop (1hr)
This workshop will explore a traditional dance from one sub-group of the indigenous people (Amazigh) of North Africa, known as the Chaouiya. This group is home to the region of the Aures mountains in East Algeria. Chaoui dance is maternal and grounded, truly symbolic of this tribe’s respect to the divine energy of nature and agriculture. Famously known by the “bounce” of the belly, this style is danced with strong isolations in the pelvis area.
To bring: One scarf (long enough to tie around the belly) and one long rectangular scarf
–BREAK–
3pm – 4pm Rai Dance Workshop (1hr)
This workshop will explore the movement of Raï, the popular music of West Algeria. Raï music is rebel blues – it has historically challenged religious, colonial, social, and acceptable status quo and therefore has been disenfranchised by colonialists and the Algerian nation-state. Despite its historical marginalization, Raï is a source of joy, blues, and catharsis for Algerian people and is often enjoyed at weddings, nightlife, and social gatherings.
To bring: Regular scarf to tie around your hips
4pm – 5pm Kabyle Dance Workshop (1hr)
This class will explore the dance from the Kabyles, an Amazigh group of Northern Algeria. This dance is heavily grounded on the feet, connected to nature, and is known for its with strong hip reverberations or “shimmies”. A cultural form thousands of years old, we connect with a dance from a community that has been a strong leader in cultural preservation of the Amazigh culture, language, and history in Algeria.
To bring: Regular scarf to tie around your hips + another scarf (preferrably square)
Esraa Warda bio:
Esraa Warda is New York’s emerging dance artist and educator specialising in North African 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.
Featured in VOGUE Arabia, Warda “takes Algerian dance from relative obscurity to the limelight … In a society focused on all things svelt, there is a charm in seeing a woman of Esraa’s size unbashedly, fiercely, and proudly…”
Her dance workshops and lectures have trailblazed their way to educational insitutions 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 tours internationally in the US, Europe, Latin America, and North Africa.
Esraa Warda Website / Esraa Warda Instagram
Dz Fest Instagram / Culturama Instagram / Culturama Facebook / Culturama Twitter
