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The JOMBA! Contemporary Dance Experience website is a treasure trove of information - use it!

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1. What is the JOMBA! Contemporary Dance Experience?
2. Describe your understanding of the word 'experience' when placed in an immersive context.
3. What is our role as arts journalists in this evolving space?

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A compressed programme, for ease of access during the festival.

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PART 2: A springboard into your experience...

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PART 2: A springboard into your experience...

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Our arts journalists at Collab Company use material such as the JOMBA! programme to embed prior research into our live experiences, ensuring a more holistic engagement with the work in the moment.

1. Does the festival have a "vibe" this year? Describe it in three words.

2. Name one aspect of the festival which differs or has developed further from previous years. Why might this have happened?

3. Is the curatorial provocation of (in)tangible heritages relevant to you personally? What about politically?

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1. What sort of research are you currently doing to prepare yourself for your experience?
2. Are you prioritizing or structuring your research in any way?
3. How could we vet the research being done on artists, companies and even international cultural sensitivities that we are perhaps less aware of than our own?

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We thrive on "cheatsheets" at Collab - a quick and efficient way to remember specifics during a high-intensity festival atmosphere with lots of moving parts.

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Here are 5 questions to respond to right now:

1. What differences might we expect to see between a preview and a review?

2. What three elements do you believe should be in every review no matter what?

3. The dreaded "I" - do you wish to be seen as part of the narrative of your review or as an omniscient reviewer?

4. Will you take notes before, during or after a piece? Why?

5. What would you do if the expectations of a piece as expressed by its creative/choreo team vs your lived experience as an audience member is vastly different? What might cause something like this to occur?

And here are 2 questions to re-consider after your lectures with Sarahleigh (ethics) and Tammy (mechanics):

1. What are the ethical considerations of the works you are engaging with, and of JOMBA! at large?

2. What are three elements which should be in every review now that you know more of the mechanics?

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Pop over to my socials where I always find that I am most engaged in the type of lessons JOMBA! Khuluma taught me (and keeps teaching me!) 

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For now though, here are a set of guidelines we use as a basis for our work on #collabinconvo (where we are always looking for writers by the way!)

Skeletal structures are very helpful to organize your thoughts once you have word-vomited them down somewhere (use Q6 in Part 4 to support your version)

Always start by asking "what is the main takeaway for my reader regarding this piece?" then "is there anything else worth saying here?" (use this as a way to create your skeletal structure)

With immersive experiences and dance journalism, it is always worth it to add value through description (my own journalistic voice engages my readership to feel as if they were seated with me in the audience - this is only one example of how to use descriptive writing!)

Critique is not a swearword but a necessary aspect of
public performance (always ensure that your critique
remains grounded in your own audience experience and is substantiated by further research into the specifics).

For note-taking, try use the same space for research into the specific pieces or artists so that all relevant info is collated (this also helps when quoting people or referencing other publications - you don't want to get this wrong!)

Take your reader on a journey through your analysis (and always leave them with the "kicker" at some point in your review - I personally use the end!)

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Collab Company on Instagram: "THE DEVIL'S IN THE DETAILS:
PART ONE
My whole life I have been what I now realise is a highly exacting personality type. That label has been applied to me in a variety of formats over the years, but they all say much the same thing. Overachiever. Perfectionist. Obsessive. Conscientious. Pedantic. Diligent. Fixated.

I have channeled this series of tendencies into so many avenues throughout my life, but all of them are underpinned by a vulnerable truth (which is the reason @lin_manuel made me cry a LOT in Encanto!) I am wiser now but must still stop myself from believing that to be valued I must always be of service to others. I am stronger now but must still remind myself to locate the boundary of each new experience. This is to ensure I am in service of myself, too.

@mtdxb_ 's The Addams Family Musical opened almost two weeks ago... on a Wednesday... ironic... we know! It was the culmination of four months of my highly exacting personality type finding it's solace, once more, in the theatre. And often in very similar company. 

The devil's in the details... or so they say. And no, they don't mean Shona traipsing about the place in a Reaper robe either! They mean that it is so often the details themselves that become the most complicated aspect within a process. And, by the powers of Pugsley, they were not wrong!

So.
Many.
Details. 

But then...

I see these photos and I am reminded. I am reminded of what it felt like to experience this production, hidden from the outside world and securely placed inside the calming chaos of the Pink Wing. I am reminded of what it felt like to see the set I helped design with @kps.intl come to life on a stage and what it did to my heart to see my Scooby Walls become a significant feature on such a significant set. I am reminded of the feeling of standing back to marvel at the collective detailing of our Production Team and my Production Crew who did the dang most to bring the Addamses to Dubai...."

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76 likes, 15 comments - collabcompany_dxb on June 13, 2023: "THE DEVIL'S IN THE DETAILS:
PART ONE
My whole life I have been what I now realise is a highly exa..."