Performance & Health Symposium

30 Nov to 1 Dec 2023

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Panel: Health and Movement

1 Dec 2023 • 14:15 - 15:20

Dance Atelier 2, Level 3, Stephen Riady Centre, 2 College Ave West, Singapore 138607 • Map

We move to live; we live to move. Movement is an indispensable part of our everyday life. Knowing how to move well is crucial to our health and well-being. Focusing on the genre of dance, this panel discusses the benefits as well as the detriments of dance. Joining in the conversation are three distinguished panelists who share their vision, practice, and research on dance. Kavitha Krishnan is a community-engaged Bharathanatyam dancer trained in occupational therapy; Vivien Koh is a ballet dancer and physiotherapist with a specialization in treating injured dancers and athletes; Dr Vivien Wu is a geriatric nurse scientist, who implements intergenerational dance programmes as a form of community engagement and health intervention. By criss-crossing their perspectives and professional experiences, we seek to understand issues of creativity, ethics, and challenges surrounding the intersection of dance and healthcare towards enhancing quality of life.

Keeping Dancers Healthy For Longer
Vivien Koh
Dance is no doubt a form of exercise with wide ranging benefits. However, increased frequency and intensity in dance training, especially at a young age, frequently leads to injuries. In this presentation, I will discuss the common causes of injuries in dancers, and how to prevent or manage them. I will also touch on the effects of injuries on mental and emotional health of dancers. Ultimately, we aim to decrease incidences of a premature end to dance due to injuries and burnout, and keep dancers healthy for longer.

Act of Joy … Dance!
Kavitha Krishnan
Kavitha will share about Maya Dance Theatre’s Body in Motion, a chair-based movement programme designed for older adults, co-facilitated by trained diversely abled dancers from Diverse Abilities Dance Collective and active older adult volunteers aged 69 to 83. She will walk us into their recent community project, Pulse of the Beat: Celebration of Life! that engaged older adults from four different care centres. This culminated into a coming together-sharing space with its extension into an exhibition at Temasek Polytechnic. Kavitha will foreground her dual perspective as an occupational therapist and dancer, elucidating its positive impact on individuals’ physical and mental health. She strongly believes that dance connects; dance heals.

Community Dance Programme for Older Adults in Singapore—A Feasibility Study
Vivien Wu
Dance interventions promote the cognitive, physical, and psychosocial well-being of older adults through a biopsychosocial model. The study comprises a pilot cluster randomized controlled trial and process evaluation to develop and evaluate the effects of community dance program (CDP). Fifty-four older adults were recruited from six senior activity centres, in which self-reported questionnaires, cognitive, and physical assessments were used and analysed. The results from paired t-tests and General Linear Model have demonstrated that CDP has significantly enhanced quality of life and accommodation relating to intergenerational communication among older adults. The non-pharmacological approach of dance promotes physical activity in an enjoyable manner through reminiscence and intergenerational bonding, which is recommended for older adults at the community level.

People

  • Moderator
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    Associate Professor Liang Peilin

    Associate Professor, Theatre and Performance Studies, National University of Singapore

  • Panelist
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    Kavitha Krishnan

    Co-founder and artistic director, Maya Dance Theatre

  • Panelist
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    Dr Vivien Wu

    Assistant Professor, Alice Lee Centre for Nursing Studies, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore

  • Panelist
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    Vivien Koh

    Sports and Dance Physiotherapist

Liang Peilin is Associate Professor of theatre and performance studies. She studies storytelling through shapeshifting, objects, and the dynamics of cross-cultural exchange in relation to the performing body. Her most recent research focuses on the intersection of health, performance, and community. She is the author of Bodies and Transformance in Taiwanese Contemporary Theater (2020), which examines the creative process of performance making as a form of identity reparation and reinvention in a (post)colonial and multicultural context. She has also published on performer training, theatre for older adults, intergenerational engagement through the arts, theatre for young audiences, and puppetry.

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Kavitha Krishnan’s impressive career encompasses both her accomplishments as a dancer and her impactful contributions to the arts community, especially in the context of social causes and diversity. Kavitha co-founded Maya Dance Theatre (MDT), a non-profit arts company, dedicated to utilizing the arts as a powerful tool for social change and promoting positive impact. MDT received SEED Grant from National Arts Council (2015-2018).

In 2018 under Kavitha’s leadership, and leveraging her background as an occupational therapist, she created a space–Diverse Abilities Dance Collective (DADC)–where dancers with diverse abilities collaborate with professional dancers. DADC’s purpose is to celebrate differences, promote inclusion, and showcase the potential of artistic expression to bridge gaps and promote understanding among people of all abilities. Kavitha’s artistic journey exemplifies the incredible potential of the arts, its transformative power in addressing societal challenges, serving as a medium to build connections, conveying messages and uplifting individuals and communities.

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Dr Wu’s research focuses on gerontechnology and intergenerational programmes to promote healthy ageing. She has published widely on high-impact international refereed SCI journals and book chapters. Dr Wu has won over 10 research grants. Currently, she works on Precision Care Pathway through frailty and cognitive assessment and Community Dance Program for older adults. Her research expertise in the field of ageing has been recognised with international awards: Interstellar Initiative for Healthy Longevity, by New York Academy of Sciences and Japan Agency for Medical Research and Development in 2020, Asian University Alliance Scholars in 2020, and Emerging Nurse Researcher/Scholar Award by Sigma Theta Tau International in 2022.

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Vivien Koh is a sports and dance physiotherapist, with a Masters in Performing Arts Medicine from UCL, UK. She works in a private clinic where she sees many dancer clients, gives talks/workshops to dance schools/teachers, and provides backstage physio for dance/musicals. She most recently was the physiotherapist for Frozen the Musical during its tour to Singapore.

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