Roundtable Discussion: Intersection of Performance and Health

Lionel Wee is Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences at the National University of Singapore, and Provost’s Chair Professor in the Department of English, Linguistics and Theatre Studies. He works on language policy, new varieties of English and general issues in pragmatics and sociolinguistics. His latest book, with Nora Samosir, is Hallyu: The Korean Wave and the Sociolinguistics of Soft Power (Routledge, forthcoming).

Event(s):

• Opening Remarks
• Roundtable Discussion: Intersection of Performance and Health

Professor Leon Rubin, PhD MA BA FRSA FRAS, Emeritus Professor University of Essex, UK is Dean of Performing Arts at LASALLE College of the Arts, University of the Arts Singapore. He is an internationally renowned theatre director and former Director of East 15 Acting School, University of Essex. He was Artistic Director of three major UK theatres: Bristol Old Vic, Watford Palace Theatre, and the Lyric Theatre Belfast. He was Associate Director at the Abbey Theatre, Dublin and began his career as Assistant Director at the Royal Shakespeare Company. He has directed and trained actors worldwide, including in UK, Scotland, Ireland, Greece, France, Chile, Japan, China, Indonesia, Holland, Russia, Thailand, Romania, Brazil, USA, Canada, and many other countries. He has directed in London’s West End and Broadway and with Stratford Festival Canada, Bungaku-za of Japan, and other important theatre companies globally. He has a long-running show, Phuket Fantasea, running in Phuket, Thailand. In 2016 he directed Handan Shakespearean Dream in London, in collaboration with the Kunju company in Nanjing and Shakespeare’s Cymbeline in Bali.

Event(s):

• Opening Remarks
• Roundtable Discussion: Intersection of Performance and Health

Matt Grey has been acting and teaching drama related subjects for over 25 years. He trained under exemplary teachers at Julia Gabriel’s in Singapore and qualified with a Licentiate from Guildhall School of Music and Drama. He currently manages the Diploma in Performance at LASALLE College, University of the Arts Singapore. He holds a masters degree in Arts Pedagogy and Practice and is undertaking PhD research into Voice and Speech for Performers.

Event(s):

• Panel: Performance and Neurodegenerative Diseases
• Roundtable Discussion: Intersection of Performance and Health

Darren Moore is an internationally recognised musician and Senior Lecturer at LASALLE College of the Arts, Singapore. His research interests centre on interdisciplinary work and collaborative improvisation. In 2013 he completed a Doctorate in Musical Arts in performance at Griffith University, Australia, which explored adapting Carnatic Indian rhythms to the drum set. His output is forward-looking and aims to align teaching, professional practice, and research interests.

Event(s):

• Panel: Music, Health and Well-being
• Roundtable Discussion: Intersection of Performance and Health

Lee Geok Ling is Associate Professor and Head with the Department of Social Work, National University of Singapore. She is also a registered social worker with the Singapore Association of Social Workers (SASW), a Fellow in Thanatology (FT) with the Association of Death Education and Counseling (ADEC) based in United States, and an invited member of the International Work Group on Death, Dying and Bereavement (IWG). Currently, she is appointed by the Singapore Hospice Council as a workgroup member to develop national guidelines for psychosocial and spiritual care service delivery. She was also an appointed member of the National Strategy for Palliative Care Review Workgroup, MOH. Her research areas include death, dying and bereavement; loss and grief; caregiving; quality of life; palliative care and end-of-life care.

Event(s):

• Panel: End-of-Life Care
• Roundtable Discussion: Intersection of Performance and Health

Alvin Eng Hui Lim is a performance, religion and theatre researcher. He is Assistant Professor in the Department of English, Linguistics, and Theatre Studies at the National University of Singapore. He holds a PhD in Theatre Studies jointly awarded by the National University of Singapore and King’s College London. He is also Deputy Director and Technology and Online Editor (Mandarin) of the Asian Shakespeare Intercultural Archive (A|S|I|A). Lim’s first monograph, titled Digital Spirits in Religion and Media: Possession and Performance (2018), studies how lived religious practices in contemporary Singapore perform in combination with digital technology. He has also published on theatre, translation, digital archiving, and religious performance in Singapore.

Event(s):

• Panel: End-of-Life Care
• Roundtable Discussion: Intersection of Performance and Health

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.

Event(s):

• Panel: Health and Movement
• Roundtable Discussion: Intersection of Performance and Health

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.

Event(s):

• Panel: Health and Movement
• Roundtable Discussion: Intersection of Performance and Health

Dr. Kat Agres is Assistant Professor at the Yong Siew Toh Conservatory of Music at the National University of Singapore (NUS), and Director of the Centre for Music and Health. She received her PhD in Psychology and Cognitive Science from Cornell University, and has a degree in Cognitive Psychology and Cello Performance from Carnegie Mellon University. Her research investigates music cognition, the impacts of music on health and well-being, music MedTech, and computational creativity.

Event(s):

• Panel: Music, Health and Well-being
• Roundtable Discussion: Intersection of Performance and Health

Dr Johan Suen is Lecturer at the Department of Sociology and Anthropology where he teaches courses on ageing, health, and the life course. His research interests include productive ageing, social determinants of health, health inequalities, and the life trajectories of vulnerable older adults in Singapore. He has published articles on social support and quality of life, cognitive impairment, and care services for frail older adults and their caregivers.

Event(s):

• Panel: Healthy Ageing
• Roundtable Discussion: Intersection of Performance and Health

Chen Yingxuan is a Singapore artist, described as one of the most exciting directors of her generation (The Business Times, 2016).

Her directorial works include A Grand Design (Checkpoint Theatre, 2020), which she dramaturged with Huzir Sulaiman, Mergers and Accusations (Esplanade’s The Studios 2019), A Good Death (Esplanade’s The Studios 2018), and The Car (Esplanade’s Feed Your Imagination 2017). She has also directed works for M1 Singapore Fringe Festival (2015 and 2018), The Twenty-Something Theatre Festival (2016), Singapore Writers Festival (2015), and Lit Up Festival (2014), working with playwrights such as Joel Tan and Faith Ng.

Yingxuan is also a screenwriter whose short film, Move Out Notice (2015), was nominated for Best Script at the Singapore Short Film Awards and received recognition at the Los Angeles Asia Pacific Film Festival, Seoul International Extreme-Short Image & Film Festival, Ile Courts International Short Film Festival, San Diego Film Festival, Beeston Film Festival, and APA Film. She co-wrote Mediacorp’s telemovie, Hong Baos and Kisses (2014), directed by Wee Li Lin.

Passionate about supporting the Singapore arts scene and ecosystem, she worked at the National Arts Council for ten years on various policies, support schemes and pilot projects, and was Assistant Director (Theatre) from 2020-2023.

She is also working in the field of arts and health with institutions such as Duke-NUS Medical School, where she utilises the arts to enhance medical education and patient experience.
Find out more about her work at www.chenyingxuan.com

Event(s):

• Panel: End-of-Life Care
• Roundtable Discussion: Intersection of Performance and Health

Tan Beng Tian has been honored with the JCCI Singapore Foundation Culture Award and the Straits Times Life! Award. As a versatile theatre practitioner involved in facilitation, performance, and direction, she is deeply passionate about ensuring accessibility in the performing arts.

Event(s):

• Panel: Healthy Ageing
• Roundtable Discussion: Intersection of Performance and Health