Nadra Assa: Artistic Director – Founder | Al Sarab Dance Company
Nadra Assaf is a dance artist, scholar, and cultural leader whose work bridges performance, education, and research. She is the Founder and Artistic Director of the Al-Sarab Dance Foundation, which includes Al-Sarab Dance School and Al-Sarab Dance Company, and a full-time academic at the Lebanese American University. With over three decades of professional practice in Lebanon, she is recognized for her contributions to the development of contemporary and traditional dance in the region.
Her research focuses on the Lebanese dance scene, examining how traditional and contemporary forms reflect, challenge, and shape cultural identity and social narratives. She is a strong advocate for dance as an educational tool and has actively worked to integrate dance into academic and community contexts to promote creativity, embodied learning, cultural awareness, and well-being.
Dr. Assaf holds an MFA in Dance from Sarah Lawrence College and a Doctorate of Education from University of Leicester. She is also the founder and director of the International Dance Day Festival in Lebanon (IDDFL), a major platform that connects local and international artists while strengthening Lebanon’s presence on the global dance map.
In addition to her academic and artistic work, she recently served as a cultural and dance expert on MTV Lebanon’s national television program Let’s Dabke, contributing to the visibility and contemporary discourse surrounding Lebanese folk dance. Through her choreography, scholarship, and community initiatives, she continues to position dance as a powerful medium for social dialogue, cultural preservation, and artistic innovation.
As a choreographer and director, she is deeply invested in creating performance work that explores contemporary human experience through movement, narrative, and embodied storytelling. The Inside Man reflects this artistic direction, blending physical theatre, dance, and character-driven structure to investigate inner conflict, identity, and the tension between public and private selves. The production continues her ongoing interest in socially reflective performance that invites audiences into emotional and psychological landscapes.