ResDance Series 4: Episode 6: Validating within Resilience with Nadra Assaf In this episode, Nadra shares insight into her experiences in dance as a dancer, choreographer, educator and researcher and reflects upon her work in dance in the Middle East. A keen advocate for the arts, Nadra shares her passion for education and reflects upon the difficulties she has experienced in relation to the acceptance of dance as a research practice and the barriers she continues to face in her own dance practices.  Throughout the episode, Nadra celebrates the importance of giving voice to subjective experience in dance and shares honest and emotive reflections concerning the validation of her own experiences. Nadra Majeed Assaf is an American Lebanese Dancer/Choreographer/Academician/Researcher who has worked in the Middle East since 1991.  She is the founder/artistic director and current financial manager of Al-Sarab Dance Foundation which houses Al-Sarab Dance School as well as Al-Sarab Dance Company (or as referred to in Europe: Dance Troupe). She is also a fulltime academic (Lebanese American University) and well-known researcher in dance in the Middle East. She received her M.F.A. in Dance from Sarah Lawrence College, and a Doctorate of Education from Leicester University. In addition to those degrees she also has a BA in Theater from Centenary College and a BS in Finance from Louisiana State University. When she returned to Lebanon in 1991, she immediately founded Al-Sarab Dance (which is made up of Al-Sarab Alternative Dance School and Al-Sarab Dance Company). As an academic, she has taught across Lebanon in several different universities. She found a permanent home LAU after 13 years of being an adjunct professor, by accepting a fulltime position in 2004. She also served as associate chair of the Communication Arts Department for 5 years (2015-2020). She is best known for her work in dance in the Middle East as she has lived in Lebanon for the past 30+ years.   Extended biography: https://nadraassaf.com/about-2/ Contact details: Email: [email protected]  / [email protected] Twitter: @NadraAssaf Facebook: Nadra Assaf; Al-Sarab Dance Company; International Dance Day Festival in Lebanon; Al-Sarab Alternative Dance School Instagram: iddfl; alsarabdancecompany; alsarabdanceschool   Publications: 1.https://doi.org/10.1386/chor_00040_1 2. http://dancercitizen.org/issue-14/nadra-assaf-and-heather-harringon/ 3.https://www.tandfonline.com/eprint/A5SD2NK6IBPF9PHTXSEM/full?target=10.1080/14647893.2020.1746255 4.https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/14647893.2012.712103   Please share this episode with students, educators, practitioners, performers, and interdisciplinary researchers curious to learn more about dance research in action.