Adelina Ong
I hold a PhD in Applied Theatre and Performance (2018) which was completed at the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama, University of London. My thesis, titled Compassionate Mobilities: Towards a Theory for Negotiated Living ,used urban arts (parkour, art du déplacement, breakin’/breakdancing and graffiti) to explore ways of living together, more compassionately, in Singapore’s hypercompetitive educational environment where inequality disadvantages young people from low-income families. As part of my enquiries in this field, and over the course of my PhD research, I delivered twenty-five urban art-inspired applied performance workshops in London and Singapore to young people between the ages of 15 and 25. Reflections on these urban art-inspired place practices (a form of applied performance) offered ways of constructing more compassionate narratives of self-worth and visualising potential alternative futures for Singapore. I have 15 years of experience as an applied performance practitioner working with young people from low-income families in Singapore (2003 – 2012) and London (2012 – 2018) and this fuels my embodied scholarship on compassionate mobilities. For an abstract, click here.
Many of the young people I worked with were struggling with depression. My current research explores the reimagining of the future of mental wellbeing in Hong Kong, Shanghai, Tokyo, Singapore and London. My current research interests include: Chinese and Japanese philosophies on death. My practice has evolved from urban arts-inspired place practices (including skateboarding, parkour, art du déplacement, street dance and graffiti), to include influences from Dungeons & Dragons (D&D), Death Cafes and synthetic media (media content augmented or generated by artificial intelligence (AI). I am currently developing synthetic applied performance practices (undertaken in collaboration with AI) and place practices at the edge of the metaverse, co-creating culturally nuanced mental wellbeing interventions with young people from low-income families in East Asia and Southeast Asia.
In addition to contributing to The Handbook of Children and Youth Studies,The Applied Theatre Reader (2nd ed.) the Routledge Handbook on Placemaking and a dossier on climate change for Theatre Research International, I am currently co-editing Performing Homescapes with Prof. Sally Mackey.
In Singapore, I’ve worked closely with non-profit organisations through the National Volunteer & Philanthropy Centre from 2005 – 2007. From 2008 – 2012 I was part of a three-man team that founded The Little Arts Academy (LAA), managed by The Old Parliament House Limited. Apart from designing the environment for LAA, she worked closely with practitioners/teachers from Singapore to develop curriculum plans within an overarching curriculum framework developed in partnership with many established arts and education specialists on the board of The Business Times Budding Artists Fund. The enrolment of LAA grew from 47 children to approximately 250 regular children and youths every week. I took on the role of producer and director for the performances created by the children and youths and devised between 15 to 18 performances a year with the students and their mentors/teachers. I also supported fundraising and marketing efforts for LAA and donated regularly to the school through personal performances produced under her own theatre company, one:lab.
I have been active in Singapore’s theatre scene since 1997. I was a founding member of SRT’s Young Company and volunteered as its youth company manager from 1998 – 2001. I acted widely on stage and television and was nominated for Best Newcomer at the inaugural Life! Theatre Awards for playing nine roles in Postcards from Persephone (2000) which I also co-produced. In 2004, I was one of fifty international female theatre practitioners selected to participate in TRANSIT IV: Roots – an international theatre festival in Holstebro, Denmark. A selection of productions and performances undertaken is highlighted at this link.
I also co-organised events and festivals such as the digital film project Digital Compassion 02 (2002) and Pulp (2003), a three-day festival that featured many first ‘street x art’ collaborations at a time where street art was not yet recognised as art. These collaborations included: graffiti x contemporary art battles and a bharatanatyam x b-girl battle.
Under one:lab, I acted, directed and produced When The World Was Green by Sam Shepard at the Night & Day Bar. The play explored the malleability of memories, forgiveness and loss in a hotel bar/prison from 20 – 23 September 2010. I also developed W, a monologue that features 13 women who have contributed significantly to the women’s movement. W (2012) premiered at Design Festa vol 35 in Tokyo with the support of Singapore International Foundation.
Awards
1st prize, TaPRA 2014 Postgraduate Essay: Place-making Performances: What Can Applied Theatre Practitioners Learn From Skateboarders and Graffiti Artists?’
Publications
Edited collections
Mackey, S. and Ong, A. (2023) Performing Homescapes, London, UK, Palgrave Macmillan.
Conroy, C., Ong, A. & Rodricks, D. (eds.) (2019) On Access, London, UK, Routledge.
Book chapters
‘Chapter 11: Traces of Care: Chalk/Dust’ in Lim, B. and Ho, O. (eds.) (2021) Empower Arts, Animate Communities, Hong Kong, Department of Cultural and Religious Studies, Chinese University of Hong Kong. 17.10.21, https://doi.org/10.54165/9789887928522, (accessed 29.10.21).
‘Placemaking Through Parkour and Art du Déplacement (ADD) as a Singaporean Applied Performance Practitioner in London’ in Courage, C. (ed.) (2020) The Placemaking Handbook, London, UK, Routledge, 31.12.20.
‘Being Imperfect: Breakin’ Away from Relating Competitively in Singapore’ in Abraham, N. and Prentki, T. (eds.) (2020) The Applied Theatre Reader, 2nd edition, London, UK, Routledge.
Articles
Reports
Harris, G., Rebellato, D., de Senna, P., Elliot-Graves, L., Greer, S., Low, K., et al. (2018) Guidelines for Preventing Sexual Harassment, United Kingdom, Standing Conference of University Drama Departments. https://scudd.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/SexualHarassmentGuidelinesv6.1FINAL.pdf (accessed 2.12.19).
Conference Papers
Ong, A. (2022) ‘Multispatialities: Placemaking at the Edge of the Metaverse’, UK-China Humanities Alliance Annual Conference 2022 (UKHCA), hosted online by Fudan University, 07.12.22
Ong, A. (2022) ‘Multispatialities: Placemaking at the Edge of the Metaverse’, Asia Pacific Network for Cultural Education and Research (ANCER), on the New Ecologies of Space panel, 03.12.22, https://youtu.be/rnTQUNa8qGU
Ong, A. (2022) ‘无为 (wú wéi)：Without Being, Becoming-AI’, Theatre & Performance Research Association (TaPRA) 2021, Performance and New Technologies Working Group Open Panel. Hosted by University of Essex, 13.09.22.
Ong, A. (2022) ‘Multispatialities: Placemaking at the Edge of the Metaverse’, International Drama in Education Research Institute (IDIERI), invited speaker for the New Scholars Panel, 12.07.22, 12 July 2022.
Ong, A. (2021) ‘节哀顺变: Inhabiting Glitches, Digital Remains’, Theatre & Performance Research Association (TaPRA) 2021, Performance and New Technologies Working Group, online, Zoom. Hosted by Liverpool Hope University, 06 – 10.09.21, https://youtu.be/ap0mTanIAts (accessed 02.10.21).
Ong, A. (2021) ‘Reimagining Wellbeing in Singapore’, Digital Innovation in Mental Health 2021, London, 04.08.21, https://youtu.be/OqVu6ACjaYk
Ong, A. (2020) ‘Reimagining Wellbeing Through Performance’, MIND HK CoolMinds Youth Summit, Hong Kong, 08.11.20.
Ong, A. (2019) ‘Resisting Neoliberal Technologies of Self-repair: Performing Depression, Teaching a Mental Wellbeing Artificial Intelligence About Inequality’, Theatre & Performance Research Association (TaPRA) 2019: Bodies and Performance Working Group, University of Exeter, 05.09.19.
Ong, A. (2019) Invited speaker for the ‘University of Skate’ panel, Pushing Boarders 2019, Malmo, Sweden. 14.08.19
Ong, A. (2019) ‘Reimagining Mobilities: Anarchic Urbanism and Hope in a Fluid Underworld (江湖)’, International Federation for Theatre Research (IFTR) 2019: Political Performance Working Group, 10.07.19.
Ong, A. (2018) ‘Writing Postcards in Lieu of Being Home’, International Drama-in-Education Research Institute (IDIERI) 9: The Tyranny of Distance, University of Auckland, New Zealand, 07.07.18
Ong, A. & Wong, C. (2018) ‘Bee Hoon Beyond Home: Place-making in a World Elsewhere’, Theatre and Performance Research Association (TaPRA) 2018: Bodies and Performance Working Group, Aberystwyth University, 06.09.18.
Ong, A. (2018) ‘Writing Postcards in Lieu of Being Home’, International Drama-in-Education Research Institute (IDIERI) 9: The Tyranny of Distance, University of Auckland, New Zealand, 07.07.18
Ong, A. (2018) ‘Performing Limpeh’, invited speaker for the Performing Citizenship in Singapore panel at the 2018 Association for Asian Studies conference, Washington DC, 25.03.18.
Ong, A. (2017) ‘For It Was Only as the Writing Faded that the Loss of Place was Felt’ TaPRA 2017: Performance, Identity & Community Working Group, University of Salford, 31.08.17
Ong, A. (2017) On Absence and Reading into Silence, Intersections 2017, London, The Royal Central School of Speech and Drama, 20.01.17
Ong, A. & Abraham, N. (2016) ‘‘I Didn’t Get It!’ Wanting To Do Disobedience Properly’ TaPRA 2016: Performance, Identity & Community Working Group, University of Bristol
Ong, A. (2016) ‘Performing Precarity in an Accelerated, Achievement-Oriented Singapore’, Theatre Applied: Hard Times: the performance of poverty and social injustice, Research@Central Processes and Practices series, 23.06.16
Ong, A. (2016) ‘Digital Traces of Lost Places’, International Federation of Theatre Research (IFTR) 2016: Political Performance Working Group, 16.06.16
Ong, A. (2016) ‘Practice (Confounds) Research: Grappling with ‘Lost Causes’’, Intersections 2016, London, The Royal Central School of Speech and Drama, 15.01.16
Ong, A. (2015) ‘Battling fears: a sea monster and a friend’, London Theatre Seminar, Senate House, 15.10.15.
Ong, A. (2015) ‘Moving On: Making Amends and Taking Responsibility for Disruptive Change’, Theatre and Performing Research Association (TaPRA) 2015, University of Worcester, Applied and Social Theatre Working Group, 10.09.15
Ong, A. (2015) ‘Creating ‘Places’ of Radical Openness in Singapore’, IDIERI 2015:‘Open Culture in the Asian Century: Reimagining Drama Education’, National Institute of Education (Singapore), 01.07.15.
Ong, A. (2015) ‘Multiplicities’, Utopias, Futures, Temporalities: Critical Considerations for Social Change Symposium, Bristol Zoo, 20.05.15
Ong, A. (2015) ‘What is the Value of Being a Public Nuisance?’, Intersections 2015, London, The Royal Central School of Speech and Drama, 16.01.15
Ong, A. (2014) ‘Beyond Panopticism: Reimagining ‘Places of Identity’’, City-Centric, King’s College of London, 21.10.14
Ong, A. (2014) ‘Compassionate Mobilities and Temporary Places’, Performing Places, London, The Royal Central School of Speech and Drama, 09.10.14
Ong, A. (2014) ‘Can Bodies Resist Panoptic Control Through Parkour-inspired Applied Theatre Practice?’, TaPRA 2014: Performance and the Body Working Group, Royal Holloway, University of London.
Ong, A. (2014) ‘Can Urban Arts be Considered as a Form of Applied Theatre Practice?’, IFTR 2014: New Scholars Forum, University of Warwick.
Ong, A. (2014) ‘Is Life Not Complete Without Shopping?’, Performing Research 2014, The Royal Central School of Speech and Drama, University of London.
Ong, A. (2014) ‘Can Heroes Limit One’s Imagination?’, TaPRA 2014 Interim Event: Applied and Social Theatre, The Royal Central School of Speech and Drama, University of London.
Impact
Interview with Dr Adelina Ong: A Personal Reflection on Performance and Pursuing Your Own Path, 26.02.20 (accessed 30.05.20).
Pushing Boarders 2019 talks released on YouTube: ‘University of Skate’ panel, Malmo, Sweden, 06.11.19 (accessed 6.12.19).
Jenkem (2019) ‘Looking Inside the World of Skate Academia‘ Jenkem Magazine, 14.10.19 (accessed 6.12.19).
Willing, I. (2019) ‘The Evolution of Skateboarding and Why Pushing Boarders is a Sign of the Times’, Yeah Girl, https://yeahgirlmedia.com/the-evolution-of-skateboarding-and-why-pushing-boarders-is-a-sign-of-the-times/, 09.10.19 (accessed 6.12.19).
Blogs:
Ong, A. (2018) ‘Practicing Place Care‘, Performing Places Bexley Blog.
Ong, A. (2018) ‘A Fictional Meeting on Bexleyheath Broadway‘, Performing Places Bexley Blog.
Ong, A. (2018) ‘A Day at the Archives‘, Performing Places Bexley Blog.
Ong, A. (2018) ‘Do We Still Make Place for Protest?‘, Performing Places Bexley Blog.
Workshops:
19 January 2023 – 9 February 2023, Hope in the City of Darkness, Lakeside Family Service Centre, The GRIT Project, Singapore.
9 September 2020 – present, Like the Dark Side of the Moon, online (Zoom)
7 March 2021 – present, Chalk/dust, London, UK
13 September – present, co-hosting Death Cafe Singapore with Raj Mohammed and Jamie , Zoom (online)
3 October 2021, ‘Reimagining Wellbeing through wabi sabi’, Beyond the Label 2021, https://www.ncss.gov.sg/our-initiatives/beyond-the-label/workshops/detail-page/youth-alliance-masterclass-managing-performance-anxiety,
4 August 2021, Chalk/Dust, Digital Innovation in Mental Health 2021, Digital Art Gallery, https://www.beckyinkster.com/dimh2021-gallery-chalk-dust
30 January 2021, Welcome to My Crying Party, RUMAH, online
22 January 2021, Introduction to Case Study, online MA Applied Theatre, The Royal Central School of Speech and Drama.
25 November 2020, ‘Resisting Neoliberal Technologies of Self-Repair’, BA DATE Applying Theatre Methodologies, The Royal Central School of Speech and Drama.
11 November 2020, ‘Space, Place, Placemaking’, BA DATE Applying Theatre Methodologies, The Royal Central School of Speech and Drama.
2 November 2020, ‘What is Theory and How to Do It’, PhD Research Degree Programme, The Royal Central School of Speech and Drama.
27 October 2020, ‘Space, Place, Placemaking’, MA AT Pedagogies, The Royal Central School of Speech and Drama.
23 October 2020, ‘Being Imperfect’, MA AT Critical Contexts, The Royal Central School of Speech and Drama.
17 June 2020, Singapore Drama Educators Association (SDEA) Home Remedies, ‘Towards Digital Compassion’ (online), Singapore
22 May 2020, BA Performance, ‘Urban Placemaking’ (online), University of Surrey.
21 May 2020, MA Voice Studies, ‘Different Ways of Presenting Research’ (online), The Royal Central School of Speech and Drama.
12 May 2020, MA Coordinated Provision, ‘The Future is Now’ (online), The Royal Central School of Speech and Drama.
5 May 2020, PhD Continued Professional Development, ‘Resilience Zoom Panel’, The Royal Central School of Speech and Drama.
23 April 2020, BA Drama, Applied Theatre and Education (BA DATE) Collout, ‘Adapting Boal’ (online), The Royal Central School of Speech and Drama.
23 April 2020 BA Drama, Applied Theatre and Education (BA DATE) Collaborative Outreach 2020 ‘Managing Challenging Behaviour’, online, The Royal Central School of Speech and Drama.
21 April 2020, ‘Resisting Neoliberal Technologies of Self-repair’, BA Theatre and Design, Wimbledon College of Art
20 April 2020 BA Drama, Applied Theatre and Education (BA DATE) Collaborative Outreach (Collout) 2020 ‘Risk Assessment’, online, The Royal Central School of Speech and Drama.
26 February 2020, BA Drama, Applied Theatre and Education (BA DATE) Theatre and the City, ‘The City and the Hyperreal’, The Royal Central School of Speech and Drama.
5 February 2020, BA Drama, Applied Theatre and Education (BA DATE) Theatre and the City, ‘Placemaking and Urban Arts’, The Royal Central School of Speech and Drama.
8 November 2019, Augusto Boal, workshop for MA Applied Theatre students at CSSD
29 October 2019, ‘Resisting Neoliberal Technologies of Self-repair: Performing Depression, Teaching a Mental Wellbeing Artificial Intelligence About Inequality’, Applying Theatre lecture and workshop for first year BA DATE students at CSSD.
17 October 2019, PaR format workshop and lecture for final year dissertation students at Wimbledon College of Art.
16 May 2019, ‘Why do a PhD?’, lecture for BA DATE 3rd year students at CSSD
2 April 2019, cosplay, social media and mental wellbeing workshop for Brunel University London first year BA students as part of the Applied Theatre (Options) unit.
8 Mar 2019 Wuwei in the City of Darkness martial arts x breakin’ workshop, MA Applied Theatre, Royal Central School of Speech and Drama, London.
6 Mar 2019 Theatre and the Hyperreal workshop for first and second year BA DATE students at Royal Central School of Speech and Drama, London as part of the Theatre and the City, Contemporary Studies unit.
26 Feb 2019, parkour, fears and verbatim theatre workshop for Brunel University London first year BA students as part of the Applied Theatre (Options) unit.
22 Feb 2019, Space, Place and Placemaking workshop at Royal Central School of Speech and Drama, London for PG Cert Applied Theatre students.
18 Feb 2019, cosplay and mental wellbeing workshop workshop for first and second year BA DATE students at Royal Central School of Speech and Drama, London as part of the Performing Health, Contemporary Studies unit.
6 Feb 2019, Urban Arts, graffiti and placemaking workshop for first and second year BA DATE students at Royal Central School of Speech and Drama, London as part of the Theatre and the City, Contemporary Studies unit.
5 Feb 2019, parkour, placemaking and memories workshop for Brunel University London first year BA students as part of the Applied Theatre (Options) unit.
19 Nov 2018, Disobedience workshop for BATP students at Royal Central School of Speech and Drama, London
9 Oct 2018, Space, Place and Placemaking workshop for MA AT students at Royal Central School of Speech and Drama, London
10 May 2018 ‘Creative Approaches to Mental Health’, Society Unlimited, London – a session using parkour-inspired place practices to work through participants’ fears and explore ideas of peace and pleasure. The five participants are struggling with various mental health issues and are working towards a low-level devised performance.
8 Mar 2018 #TheRebelDaughters graffiti project, London-Singapore.
6 Feb 2018 graffiti poems and place workshop for Brunel University London first year BA students as part of the Applied Theatre (Options) unit.
10 Feb 2017, Place & Placemaking, MA Applied Theatre, Royal Central School of Speech and Drama, London
5 Jan 2017, Art du Deplacement x Applied Theatre workshop, Singapore
15 Nov 2016, ParkourDance, Pedagogy, Place, BA DATE Experience in Context, Royal Central School of Speech and Drama, London
12 July 2016, Graffiti x Applied Theatre workshop, Signing Off Studio One at Royal Central School of Speech and Drama, London
14 Apr 2016, Graffiti x Applied Theatre workshop, Traces of Lost Places, at Rose Bruford Symposium 2016, Kent
15 Feb 2016, Disobedience, BA DATE Theatre & Change, Royal Central School of Speech and Drama, London
5 Jan 2016, Breakin’ x Applied Theatre workshop with Recognize Studios (Felix Huang), Singapore
3 Nov 2015, ParkourDance, Pedagogy, Place, BA DATE Experience in Context, Royal Central School of Speech and Drama, London
25 July 2015, Graffiti Walk in Singapore
July 2015, Breakin’ x Applied Theatre Workshop with Recognize Studios (Felix Huang), Singapore
June 2015, Graffiti workshops with Femme Fierce (Artists: Jarvis and Zina) for 360 students from Year 1 to Year 6 at Britannia Village Primary School’s ‘Streets of London’ programme
27 May 2015, Theatre workshop for ParkourDance Main Company, London
January – June 2015, Monthly theatre workshops for ParkourDance Youth Company towards their year-end showcase, London
December 2014, Art du Deplacement x Applied Theatre workshop with ADD Academy Singapore and Singapore Polytechnic’s Diploma in Applied Drama & Psychology 2nd and 3rd year students
July 2014, Parkour x Applied Theatre workshop with Parkour Generations (Shirley Darlington) for Immediate Theatre, London.
About one:lab
one:lab = synthetic applied performance, place practices at the edge of the metaverse and parkour, skateboarding, street dance and graffiti-inspired applied performance that work towards the co-creation of compassionate futures with young people from low-income families. Founded in 2010 on the belief that it is possible for one person to start making a difference, one:lab aims to reimagine narratives of the future with young people from low-income families.
Email: onelab2010@gmail.com
one:lab 