Theatre for Senior (citizen)s

I've had the pleasure of facilitating the Theatre for Senior(citizen)s class, U3A (University of the Third Age) at UPM(University Putra Malaysia). 
They had their class performance on Friday, 25th of October. I am so proud of them... Their performance was wonderful! After only 6 classes, and just 2 weeks of coming up with their story, script, and practice for the performance! 

Tomorrow, they will be performing again, for another skid, on Financial Empowerment for Elderly Women, which

 will be held at the Main Hall at University Putra Malaysia(UPM), sponsored by Citibank.

Recent Corporate Training Sessions with Engineers

In the past two weeks I had the privilege of doing corporate training sessions for engineers. 

The first one was last week with 29, all male participants, most of them were off shore engineers from Bumi Armada, an Oil &Gas company. We did a session titled “The Hero’s Journey – Motivation and Goal Setting”. I really enjoyed the experience. It was obvious that using drama, at least the way I did for the training, was something new and unexpected for those participants. There were a few minutes of awkward hesitancy but after that, they seemed to be enjoying the session, which was reflected in their feedback of the training.

The second one, this week, was also with a group of engineers (various fields of engineering) from Aker Engineering. There were about 50 participants. The session was titled “Stress Management: Creative Methods in handling Work and Life Stress”. I enjoyed imparting knowledge and techniques on the experiential level to which will assist the participants in handling stress. The group, even though larger than my usual numbers, was very participative, which made the whole experience of facilitation lots of fun and a fulfilling experience. I had great feedback from this group too.

Both groups consisted of Malaysians and also International participants who included top level management as well as executive level personnel. They were very encouraging in their high level of participation.

 I find that my level of enjoyment in facilitating corporate training increases as I keep doing more of them. I appreciate the opportunities, the experiences, the learning and mostly, the process of facilitating and engaging with the participants, in these corporate training sessions. 

Article on IMU News, Exploring the Magic Box - Children's Camp

I found an article on IMU (International Medical University) News online about a creative workshop I had facilitated early this year at IMU.

Please note, there is a minor mistake... it is  written that I am a Dance Therapist. I am actually  qualified as a Drama Therapist, with a dance background.

Click on the link below for the article.

http://imunews.imu.edu.my/index.php/latest-news/community-project-by-imu-students-exploring-the-magic-box-childrens-camp/

Perfomance in Penang in March 15th & 16th

I'm performing this Friday and Saturday (15th & 16th March) in Penang, along with another wonderful dancers and musicians. Check it out!

Frankenstein, the Hero's Journey- Drama Workshop with Medical Students

I recently had the privilege to facilitate a drama workshop with forty medical students from the International Medical University. Kali Chandrasegaram, who is a professional dancer based in the United Kingdom had graciously co- facilitated the workshop with me.  We had thoroughly enjoyed the experience.

The theme of the day was Frankenstein. Our workshop was on connecting the story of Frankenstein to the Hero’s Journey.

We had actually all positive feedback from the students. Many of them had discovered or rediscovered the creative part of themselves which they had kept dormant for a long time. 

One of the comments that we had is ‘I really enjoyed being able to use crayons and magic pens again. The last time I had used them was when I was a child’. Another which left a deep impact is ‘I feel so open after this.. I don’t really know why. I just feel so open’. Several of the participants also commented that the workshop was also a welcomed break from all that constant and intense studying.

What I had witnessed was that the participants were reconnecting with themselves… their true self, through exploring and expressing their own creativity and play. Their comments and feedback of their experience of the workshop came from their hearts and was very much appreciated by all of us in the room. For that duration of the workshop, that space became a sacred space… I felt very grateful to have had the experience of witnessing the ‘magic’ which happened in that space. I would like to thank all of the participants for the experience of bearing witness to the alchemy which happened within them in that space.

New Job

I had just begun working for an NGO which helps spread awareness about child sexual abuse and provide therapy for survivors of sexual abuse. Just like most of the full time jobs which I have had in the past years, being  hired for  this job also  happened with interesting synchronicity.
I am already in the process of expansion of my knowledge and skills in the past week and I look forward for more of that experience in the future, in this job.

Dramatherapy Workshop for Counselors and Psychologists organized by University Putra Malaysia

On the 17^th of July 2012 I had the pleasure of facilitating a Dramatherapy workshop organized by UPM (University Putra Malaysia) for counselors, psychologists, psychotherapists and academicians from various universities in Malaysia.

The workshop had twenty two participants who were very enthusiastic to learn about how they can utilize some of the skills used in dramatherapy into their practice as counselors and psychologists.

We explored the hero’s journey… as one of the main activities..   The process and the outcome was insightful for the participants, as most of the dramatherapy work which I do… It always fascinates me what comes through in these workshops.  And more importantly, it is always a pleasure to have imparted some of what I know to others and for them to find out more about themselves. For most people it is about how creative they actually are and many ‘aha’ moments and having lots of fun in the process. Although it can get serious and for those who are facing certain life stresses, which may come up during the workshop,  it maybe emotional at times. The element of play, fun and imagination enables them to see the light at the end of the tunnel and often a way to handle their problems.