Esraa Warda

Warda was born and raised in Brooklyn, New York City,^[1][2] and is a member of the global Algerian diaspora.^[3]

Warda has worked as a co-director of a traditional Arts program at an Arab-American Center in New York.^[4] She works to preserve the slowly declining visibility of marginalised Algerian arts, culture and dance.^[2] She is a mentee of Algerian musician Cheikha Rabia^[5] and women elders in her family.^[4] She has also collaborated on music with Salim Beltitane.^[2]

Warda has been featured on the PBS show Bare Feet With Mickela Mallozzi, where she spoke about the movement and history of Algerian Raï dance.^[6] She also performed internationally, including at the Le Guess Who? Festival in Utrecht, Netherlands,^[2] in England and in Cuba.^[5]

In 2024, Warda received the Artist Grant from the New York State Council of the Arts.^[6] In 2025–2025, she is a Heritage Ambassador Fellow at the Brooklyn Public Library and a Guest Curator at the Center for the Arts at Virginia Tech, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University.^[6]

She was named a BBC 100 Woman in 2022.^[5]

• Esraa Warda on Instagram