Panel: Performance and Neurodegenerative Diseases

30 Nov 2023 • 14:00 - 15:25

Flexible Performance Space, Block F Level 1 #F102, 1 McNally Street, Singapore 187940 • Map

There has been a positive change in the attention and understanding given to people with neurodegenerative diseases over the last decade. The impacts upon loved ones and carers are being recognized and those coping with such conditions are able to discuss their experiences and needs more openly than in the past. People with these diseases are sharing their experiences, discussing the effects, and considering their futures in ways that help to build understandings and to develop affective support. Particular areas of the arts, such as therapeutic drama or fine art therapy, have long been utilized to assist with a variety of mental and physical conditions. Covering areas such as depression, Parkinson’s Disease, and dementia, this panel of experts will share knowledge about the relevance and use of performance to assist people who are affected by such conditions.

Building Bridges Between Music and Communication for People with Dementia
Emily Ong
Among the changes and declines experienced by people with dementia is the increasing difficulty with communication via language. Even at the mild stage of dementia, people can have problems finding words (anomia), comprehending what is said to them, and expressing themselves. These difficulties will only worsen over time, and most would have lost their communication ability via language towards the later stages of dementia. This presentation is about using music and movement as a mode of communication for them to relate and interact with others and to express themselves without making them feel incompetent and cognitively stressed out.

A Practical Research on Dementia Through Creating, Performing, and Teaching
Wong Su Sun
The involvement of pop singing students in an opera, working with themes that require research and sensitivity, enriches their dramatic and interactive experiences beyond their usual performance practice. The speaker will share the team’s approaches to creating and delivering an opera work that is performable by non-classical musicians and singers. The presentation will also touch on the possibility of community touring with such work to raise awareness on the importance of intergenerational support to mitigate suffering from this incurable disease.

The team consists of:
Scene director – Nora Samosir
Composer – Dr Chen Zhangyi
Playwright – Jean Tay
Film Director – Lim Zi Yu

Applied Theatre as Remediation for Depression and Anxiety in People with Parkinson’s Disease
Jeffrey Guyton
There are two parts to the presentation. The first part provides general information about people with Parkinson’s disease and how research has been done on the ameliorating effects of acting improvisation and applied theatre on the emotional and psychological symptoms of the disease. The second part will be a Zoom recording and/or live presentation of a children’s poem with some movement performed by Jaekah Chase, a person with Parkinson’s and my wife. We will also share the process of working on the piece and its efficacy.

Situating Music Therapy across River of Life
Dr Tan Xueli
This presentation focuses on the situatedness of music therapy as a therapeutic intervention in healthcare settings to address an individual’s sojourn through seasons of well-living, living with illnesses or diseases, living with disabilities, and leaving well at the end of life. In this river of life framework, I will expound on the dynamic flexibility of the application of music in therapeutic contexts by credentialled music therapists in working with people living with dementia, Parkinson’s disease, stroke, and palliative care patients at a community hospital setting.