In curating WOMADelaide, director Ian Scobie and associate director Annette Tripodi have possibly one of the most enjoyable jobs on the planet.

But they are not just searching internationally for performers to appear on the seven stages scattered throughout Botanic Park.

The off-stage program, like the on-stage scheduled events, is about connecting with the work of the artists. Less fairground diversion, more engagement said Scobie.

“We hope the audience is transported by the performance and by the message the performers are putting across,” Scobie said.

“Whether that’s the Handspring-Slingsby Celebration Parade with a message about our environment, or Omar Rajeh and Maqamat’s Beytna, which is about family and concepts of home.

“I think it provides a more enriching experience overall for our patrons over the course of the festival.”

South Africa’s Handspring Puppet Company is best known for its giant creations and politically and socially themed works, including War Horse and Little Amal.

“Having one of the world’s leading puppet companies here, it just seemed a great opportunity to get them together with Adelaide’s Slingsby Theatre Company [and] leave something of a legacy and an artistic exchange,” Scobie said.

Slingsby director Andy Packer co-wrote the piece, while Quincy Grant composed the score.

The collaboration between the two companies and Ukwanda Puppets & Designs Art Collective will see a procession of life-sized elephants explore the park, accompanied by musicians.

Scobie said it is always a challenge to translate his and Tripodi’s picks into what audiences will respond to and to the site itself.

“There’s that mixture of being conscious of who the audience is and where they are seeing the shows,” he said.

Muljil from South Korean theatre company Elephants Laugh will be staged in a fixed location in Frome Park, necessitated by the glass tanks in which they perform – the show’s title taken from the Korean word for the critical moment of breathlessness encountered by Haenyeo, the female divers of Jeju Island.

For Scobie and the team, having a diverse program on- and off-stage is important, as is the desire to avoid just ‘filling time’.

“We want to have that sense of covering many countries, many cultures and also a mixture of experiences,” he said.

“The work has a creative intent behind it and we hope the audience come away from it so that: one, they remember it; two, they’ve enjoyed it; and three, it has made them thing about various things.

“The show Les Moutons, for example, is a beautiful piece of dance, but they are all performing as sheep.

“It’s very funny, but also touching as it reflects on the difference between the human and animal world.”

Acclaimed aerial choreographers Gratte Ciel return with RoZéo this year.

“This is a piece I saw in France last year – it’s an invocation of the human form from the spirit world,” Scobie said.

Performed atop 10-metre poles to an original score performed by composer and musician Pauline Fremeau, RoZéo will take place amid Botanic Park’s pine trees.

“They’ll be flying in the pines – it is a really gorgeous piece.”

This year will see the introduction of the Middle Eastern souk-inspired, covered WoMarkets stretching along a previously unused section of Plane Tree Drive.

With more than 40 retail outlets, the sculptural structure has been designed by Australian company Tetrik.

“Over the last couple of years, we’ve looked at redesigning the park to give more green space back to the audience,” Scobie explained.

This has also resulted in Sanctuary at The Zoo hosting this year’s Taste The World Restaurant, which will feature a menu of Peruvian, West Indies and Carribean inspired dishes.

Taking bookings across each of the four days, this fine dining experience with full table service will have a backdrop of views across the zoo and the park.

Streb Extreme Action. Photo: Stephanie Berger

At the Hackney Road end, the off-stage show from Streb Extreme Action is one that Scobie said will have the audience enthralled.

“Elizabeth Streb is an extraordinary choreographer [and] was one of the first really to take dance and see it as an athletic form,” he said.

“Her arrow goes back to New York from similar times to Laurie Anderson, Lou Reed and other Americans breaking the bounds of convention.”

Scobie saw the company perform five years ago during Berlin’s Tanz in August dance festival.

“Streb’s style is to create freeze frame pictures in the sky from the acrobats’ movements – there’s a huge, thrilling gymnastic athleticism to it and, equally, it’s extraordinary dance.

“This piece that we’re doing at WOMADelaide will be on three different stage structures and the audience is encouraged to be, not amongst it, but certainly quite close.”

Scobie said, for performances in general, bringing the audience closer delivers an intimacy that helps them to see things from a different emotional and intellectual perspective.

“The common thread with any artistic work, by and large, is that celebration of what it is to be human.

“With WOMADelaide, there are things that you can individually relate to and see yourself in there … and that makes it enriching for the audience.”

WOMADelaide starts this Friday. Purchase tickets here.