As a collective, SAEDA fosters a space for diasporic dance artists of South Asian descent to discuss shared and divergent artistic processes and disrupt representations of South Asian bodies. SAEDA also aims to create and sustain a network of peer to peer artist-led communication that promotes a system built on artistic growth and community health.

Lionel Popkin was born and raised in Bloomington, Indiana by an Indian mother, and a Jewish father. His work engages people, objects, and media to explore issues of hybridity, archival practices, historical inequities, and the confusions surrounding the representations of the South Asian diaspora in North America. His work has been presented on four continents at venues including Danspace Project and Abrons Arts Center in New York, NY, The Getty and REDCAT in Los Angeles, CA, The Place Theater in London, and the Guangdong Modern Dance Festival in Guangzhou, China. Lionel has performed as a dancer in the companies of Trisha Brown, Terry Creach, and Stephanie Skura. He is a certified teacher of Skinner Releasing Technique, a resident artist at the 18th Street Arts Center, and a Professor of Choreography at UCLA.