$FREE

In collaboration with Griot Circle Senior Center, Cumbe is presenting a monthly series of lectures on African Diaspora Dance. We're excited to welcome acclaimed artist Esraa Warda to explore the culture, dance, and movement of Chaâbi, the "peoples'" music of Morocco. Chaâbi is a dance style that reflects the voice and energy of community - it is high energy, celebratory, and pushes one to release without inhibitions. Participants will learn about what Chaâbi music is, how it is danced, and the social context of the tradition.

Acknowledged as a talented dancer within her cultural community at 13 years old, Esraa Warda is now one of the premier North African performance and teaching artists based in New York City. Esraa is of Algerian origin and professionally teaches and performs Algerian/Moroccan styles such as Chaabi, Rai, Chaoui, Kabyle and Reggada/Allaoui in NYC and around the world. Her teaching methods are now focused on reproducing the same context in which she learned – through ‘transmission’ via muscle memory within women’s dance circles and jams. Despite being on the African continent, Moroccan and Algerian dances are often disconnected and lumped into Middle Eastern/Arab culture. Esraa aims to pioneer the representation of these dances as African in the cultural landscape both institutionally and informally.