Aimee Khalifa
voice and musical theatre
Aimee is an Irish singer, actress, songwriter, vocal teacher and acting instructor with a passion for the arts. She trained in Musical Theatre at London College of Music and ICMT in London. Her career highlights include playing Alya and Octavia in the original musical Alya in Terraland for COP28 at Terra in Expo City, the role of Ilsa in Spring Awakening at Edinburgh Fringe, and the lead singer for National Dance Company of Ireland's Rhythm of the Dance as part of their European and USA Tours. As well as performing live, Aimee teaches private singing lessons and musical theatre classes in the UAE and loves to share her passion for performing with aspiring artists. Aimee loves Collab Company’s holistic model of arts education. She believes that it supports young creatives to understand theatre from many angles, to appreciate how each role intertwines and to know that every role, however small it may appear, is extremely important to the production as a whole.
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Katherine Jones
dance and performance arts
As a trained dancer, actor and teacher Katherine is passionate about the performing arts. She studied Theatre and Performance at the University of Cape Town in South Africa and received her PGCE in Primary Education from the University of the West of England. Katherine has trained in multiple dance styles, many of which she currently teaches to students ranging from 3 to 33 years old! Katherine played the lead in Not Falling, an original theatre dance production that premiered in Cape Town and has also been part of many productions here in Dubai including an all-female Macbeth and the interactive experience, Antigone Retold. Collab Classroom promotes a holistic belief in the theatrical arts, and is therefore an ideal space for Katherine's own educational ethos. It is a welcoming space, challenging the boundaries of what a performing art space is, whilst also nurturing the process through which theatre is made. Katherine is extremely passionate about learners of all ages engaging with the performing arts in this capacity and is grateful that Collab Classroom is so supportive of this idea in Dubai and beyond.
Dr Kirin Hilliar
pastoral programs
Kirin Hilliar completed her PhD and her Master of Psychology (Forensic) at the University of New South Wales (UNSW) in Australia. Her work has taken her across the fields of forensic, organisational, and clinical psychology in Australia and the UAE and inlcudes engaging with corrective custodial services, forensic mental health, workplace recruitment assessments and therapeutic services. Alongside her full-time role at Heriot-Watt University in Dubai, Kirin also works part-time as a psychologist at a private clinic. Kirin has a background in theatre which makes her a treasure trove of cross-curricular engagement and a careers coach for interest within her very diverse field. She provides invaluable insight​ within our Sticks and Stones pastoral program.
Dr Lamya Tawfik
pastoral programs
Dr. Lamya Tawfik is an Egyptian performing artist with an interest in Children's development and culture. She is an actress, storyteller and presenter. Her performing arts journey started in 2009. Since then she has performed in English, Arabic and Italian with several theatre groups in Dubai including Danú Dubai, Dubai Drama Group, ITACA, DramaDonne, and the Artbox Group. As a storyteller, she has performed in many children's events, storytelling festivals and also told stories at the Sharjah International Book Fair and The Louvre in Abu Dhabi. Lamya holds a Bachelors and Masters degree in Journalism and Mass Communication from the American University in Cairo and a Doctorate Degree in Childhood Studies. Lamya is a member of the Arabic-speaking community, supporting parents and students to interact with our team in more than one language and broadens our cultural accessibility framework as an organisation operating within the UAE.
Lauren Noble
devising and production arts
Lauren Noble is the founder and creative director of Collab Company as well as the lead educational practitioner for Collab Classroom. She is a South African theatre director, designer, scriptwriter and performance artist who produces bespoke events which consciously blur boundaries between multiple art forms. Lauren's holistic pedagogy involves tangibly supporting creatives of all ages to empower themselves through the arts. She proudly advocates for the disruption of outdated methods of artistic and educational practices in favour of evolutionary 21st century methodologies. Lauren believes that the synergy that exists between all three platforms of Collab Company characterises our unique teaching and learning style. It is within these intersectional spaces that we find the inspiration and skills required to develop each new idea, harnessing potential from across the spectrum of art and education.