About Us
THE NATIONAL EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE OF ASPAH
ASPAH is led by a national executive committee of up to 11 individuals who are passionate about the importance of
high-quality healthcare for performing artists. Their expertise and experience encompasses diverse fields. The committee includes healthcare professionals, pedagogues, researchers, and performing artists.
Executive Committee Office Bearers
Click on headshots to read bios
Louise Drysdale
President
Louise Drysdale
President
Louise is a physiotherapist who has worked for over 10 years with both student and professional dancers across a variety of ages and genres. She was physiotherapist for Queensland Ballet and Queensland Ballet Academy for eight years, and has worked with touring dancers in Ballet Prelocaj, Rambert Ballet, Akram Khan, Matilda the Musical, Singin’ in The Rain, Dirty Dancing, Wicked, American Idiot Musical, The Sound of Music, Bluey’s Big Play, Bangarra and Red Bull Flying Bach. Louise has additional training in voice physiotherapy, has worked with performers in Opera Queensland and Griffith Conservatorium and presented talks to the Australian National Association of Teachers of Singing.
Louise holds a Bachelor of Physiotherapy (University of Queensland), Graduate Certificate in Musculoskeletal Physiotherapy (LaTrobe University, Melbourne) and a Master of Medical Research Candidate (Griffith University). She is completing a PhD at University of Canberra, where she is investigating bone health in classical ballet dancers. Louise enjoys collaborating with dance researchers from all over Australia and has presented her research at national and international conferences.
Louise trained at Queensland Dance School of Excellence (now Queensland Ballet Academy) and she still enjoys the occasional ballet or musical theatre class and Latin dance social.
She has proudly been involved in ASPAH since 2023.
Dr Melanie Fuller
Vice-President
Dr Melanie Fuller
Vice-President
Melanie is a titled Sports and Exercise, + Musculoskeletal Physiotherapist, Researcher and Educator. She is passionate about exceptional healthcare, and injury prevention for performing artists. She has served on the ASPAH executive committee since late 2018, and has worked as a physiotherapist for over 16+ years, working for professional ballet, and contemporary dance companies, as well as touring musical theatre companies, and within pre-professional dance settings. Melanie is a teaching and research academic at the University of Southern Queensland and has worked in private practice, at QUT Dance, and tours with The Australian Ballet. She has presented at international and national conferences, as well as for dance teacher professional development, as invited by various organisations. She regularly contributes to professional development activities for fellow physiotherapists. Melanie completed her PhD at QUT, investigating injury prevention in dance, is a member of the Australian College of Physiotherapists (Sports and Exercise, + Musculoskeletal) with dual master’s qualifications, and received an Advanced Diploma in Performing Arts (Dance) from the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts.
Dr Paul Duff
Treasurer/Secretary
Dr Paul Duff
Treasurer
Dr Paul Duff is a general practitioner in Woy Woy, NSW. He is a foundation member of ASPAH and has been its Public Officer since its inception. He has had a lifelong involvement with the performing arts, from his membership of the Australian Boys Choir as a child and amateur choral performances as an adult through to his 20 year association with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra as its touring doctor from 1995 to 2015.
Executive Committee Members
Click on headshots to read bios
Julia Barry
Member
Dr Alison Evans
Member
Grace Marshall
Member
Julia Barry
Member
Julia is a graduate of the Royal Ballet School Teachers’ Training Course Diploma in Ballet Teaching and has a 45-year dance teaching career encompassing running her own large dance school and youth performance company and freelance dance teaching and choreographing at private studios, full-time vocational courses and university dance performance and teacher training programmes. Julia was also Chair for three years of the Industry Advisory Committee for Auckland University of Technology’s BDance programme and has experience as a contributor to dance magazine articles and as a dance performance reviewer.
In 2021 Julia completed a Master of Philosophy at Queensland University of Technology (QUT) researching adolescent dancer wellness in elite pre-professional dance schools and private dance studios. Julia also has a Master of Creative Industries (Dance Teaching) from QUT (2008) and a Postgraduate Certificate in Higher Education (Teaching and Learning) from Macquarie University (2013).
Julia is a Life Member, Registered Teacher and Examiner for the Royal Academy of Dance (RAD) and holds the Academy’s Advanced Teaching Diploma. She is also a Practical Teaching Supervisor and Tutor for the RAD Faculty of Education programmes. Julia has presented regarding her research and teaching strategies at three RAD Conferences in Australia and at the International Association for Dance Medicine and Science (IADMS) Sydney Regional Meeting. Julia also has teaching qualifications in Benesh Movement Notation, Pilates Matwork and ISTD Imperial Ballet, Cecchetti Ballet, Modern Theatre and National Character Dance.
Dr Alison Evans
Member
Dr Evans holds degrees in music performance (bassoon) and music education (secondary school). Her doctoral studies focused on performing-related musculoskeletal disorders (PRMDs) in musicians, in particular stress velopharyngeal insufficiency that can affect woodwind and brass instrumentalists. As a result, her research has increased awareness among the music and health-care professions to recognize potential risk factors and symptoms of this lesser-known PRMD. As a music educator, Dr Evans is passionate about applying performing arts medicine research to make changes to music teaching and learning outcomes. Her commitment to this field is driven by wanting to help other musicians minimise their risk of experiencing playing-related pain or injury. Her current research has focussed on musician’s health education in pre-tertiary and tertiary music institutions, investigating how health literacy and behavioural science theoretical frameworks can be applied to improve music students’ level of and application of health information knowledge to optimise music performance and minimise playing-related injuries. Dr Evans is also co-artistic director of the Sydney-based, Sirius Chamber Ensemble, who collaborate with Australian contemporary classical composers, regularly performing recital programs of chamber music for winds, strings and piano in Sydney and regional New South Wales.
Grace Marshall
Member
Grace is currently completing her final year of Physiotherapy at Griffith University. Her academic journey has been marked by a passion for understanding the intricacies of human movement in order to promote optimal health. Growing up as a part of the dance community and performing nationally for audiences as a classical guitarist in the Aurora Guitar Ensemble, Grace is now focused on developing her skills as a physiotherapist to support the well-being of circus artists and others involved in the performing arts. Grace’s favourite way to de-stress is taking an aerial class with her local circus company.
Sarah Victoria
Member
Sarah Victoria
Member
Sarah Victoria is an actress, PEM Master Instructor and Director of Kalliso and PEM International. She has been a certified PEM Instructor since 2004 and trained directly with Stephan Perdekamp. She wrote her master’s thesis about the Perdekamp Emotional Method in 2004. She has been teaching for over 19 years, is on the board of directors of the PEM Center Hamburg as well as an actor in the PEM Ensemble Hamburg and the PEM International Ensemble.
Specialising in coaching for both performance development and emotional health, Sarah has introduced PEM at the Royal Society of Medicine in London, held masterclasses and keynote speeches at various international conferences, has taught workshops in prisons, the Asylum Seeker Resource Centre, and for Aspergers Victoria, as well as coached professional actors working in major TV and film productions internationally. Sarah has years of experience helping not only performers, but people with diagnosed conditions such as PTSD, ADHD and Autism through Kalliso.
She has been teaching and leading PEM masterclasses at drama universities worldwide such as the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama, the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London, the National Institute of Dramatic Art in Sydney, the Victorian College of the Arts in Melbourne, the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts in Perth, Queensland University of Technology in Brisbane, the National School of Drama in Delhi, the University of Johannesburg, and Babes-Bolyai-University in Romania. As Head of PEM International, she has been leading PEM workshops in the US, UK, South Africa, India, New Zealand, Japan, Russia and Europe. She is currently based in Melbourne, Australia where she is director of the Australian company Kalliso.
Suzanne Wijsman
Member
Suzanne Wijsman
Member
Suzanne Wijsman, DMA, is Associate Professor in the Conservatorium of Music at the University of Western Australia. The recipient of a Fulbright Award for study in the UK and many awards, as a cellist Suzanne has performed extensively in the USA, Australia and Europe. In the USA, she was a member of the prize-winning Augustine String Quartet. After moving to Australia, Suzanne performed with the acclaimed Stirling String Quartet, touring in Australia and internationally. In the arena of historical performance, she recorded an acclaimed series of five CDs for ABC Classics, The Perfection of Music: Masterpieces of the French Baroque, called “a landmark in the Australian performance of baroque music” (Sydney Morning Herald). In 2014 she premiered Peter Sculthorpe’s last work, Lament, as cello soloist at the University of Western Australia. A highly respected pedagogue, cello students of Suzanne Wijsman have pursued high-profile post-graduate destinations and performance or teaching careers in Australia, Europe, the UK and North America.
Suzanne is a leading researcher in musicians’ health in Australia. She led an interdisciplinary team in The Biomechanics of Cello Bowing (UWA Research Grant, 2004), investigating how cellists’ bowing movements relate to injury risks. From 2009-2012 with Bronwen Ackermann, she led the Musicians’ Health National Curriculum Initiative (MHNCI) to develop online performance health education for musicians, resulting in Sound Performers (sound performers.com), supported by an Australian Office of Learning and Teaching (OLT) Priority Projects grant ($220,000).
Suzanne has also led or been a Chief Investigator for several international collaborative projects focused on health education for musicians: Musicians’ Performance Health Education: A Translational Approach (UWA Research Collaboration Award, 2017); Sound Performers Canada (led by Christine Guptill, University of Ottawa, SSHRC grant, Canada, 2018-2021). Suzanne is Academic Lead for Health Literacy and Health Education Mobility for Musicians: a global approach, which formed the Musicians Health Literacy Consortium in 2018 (Worldwide Universities Network Research Development Fund, 2018-2021). She is a Co-Investigator for Health promotion in post-secondary music education: An institutional ethnography (led by Christine Guptill, University of Ottawa, SSHRC grant, Canada, 2021-2024). With Bronwen Ackermann, she is currently leading the project Training Sound Performers, funded by the Australia Council (2022-2024), to develop new health education resources for music educators.
Grace Williams
Member
Grace Williams
Member
Grace graduated with a Bachelor of Physiotherapy (Honours) from the University of Queensland in 2015. Following her passion of working with performers, Grace travelled overseas to the United Kingdom where she worked as the touring Physiotherapist for various musical theatre productions. She now has experience working as the Physiotherapist for musical theatre companies in Australia and in London’s West End, professional ballet companies, contemporary companies, as well as in film productions at Pinewood Studios, England. She is the current Physiotherapist for Australasian Dance Collective and works as the Physiotherapist for Queensland Ballet Academy. She is the Founder and Director of Encore Performance Health, a Physiotherapy service treating and educating performers to help keep them on stage.
Further training has also enabled Grace to work in the specialised area of vocal physiotherapy. She understands the importance of the mechanics of the voice and neck in musical theatre performers, singers, public speakers and musicians. Grace is a qualified pilates instructor in both matwork and equipment, attaining her certification through the Pilates Institute of Queensland and completed extra training in this area for dancers.
Grace herself trained in many styles of dance including ballet, jazz, contemporary, tap, aerial and pole dance. She completed exams in the RAD ballet syllabus up to Advanced 2 and holds a CSTD Jazz Teacher certificate. This background, alongside experience treating professional performers, enables her to have a good understanding of the demands of an artist and what is required of them to achieve at their optimal level. Her approach to treatment is holistic incorporating education, manual therapy, dry needling, exercise prescription and clinical pilates.
Dr Bronwen Ackermann
Member
WHY WE ARE HERE
“The vitality of the arts and culture of any society is threatened by those forces that disable its artists.”
Tom Hall, 1987 (letter written to the Medical Journal of Australia)
The performing arts are a key part of the cultural, financial and day-to-day life of Australia and Australians.
“Making a living” remains challenging for many performing arts organisations and most performing artists.
These challenges and pressures can leave little room for health and wellbeing in the day-to-day life of performing artists.
The healthcare system in Australia remains largely ignorant of the unique health needs of these performers.
In its broadest sense, then, ASPAH’s aim is to change this culture so that the health and wellbeing of performing artists is treated with the same importance as their craft; not just for the sake of the artists themselves but also for the richness their “health supported” performances bring to us all.
ASPAH’S MISSION AND VALUES
Our Mission Statement
ASPAH recognises that all performing artists, young and old, amateur and professional, have unique needs that may not be met by standard models of healthcare.
Therefore it promotes:
Accessible high-quality holistic healthcare for all performing artists;
Education for health workers, teachers, performers and students to improve health and wellbeing;
Research across disciplines relevant to the health and wellbeing of performing artists;
A culture of lifelong preventative healthcare and safety practices for performing artists and performing arts institutions;
Multidisciplinary discourse among health professionals, educators and performing artists;
Increased community awareness of performing arts healthcare issues.
Our Vision Statement
ASPAH will serve nationally and internationally as the peak body in Australia for the promotion of holistic healthcare for all in the performing arts industry.
Including:
Instrumentalists and vocalists from all musical styles and traditions
Dancers: Ballet, contemporary, commercial, musical theatre and independent artists
Actors: Stage, television and film
Circus and physical theatre performers
Technical crews
ASPAH’S DIVERSITY, EQUITY, AND INCLUSION POLICY
Definition of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion:
Diversity, equity, and inclusion refers to organisational frameworks that seek to promote “the fair treatment and full participation of all people”, particularly groups “who have historically been underrepresented or subject to discrimination” on the basis of identity or disability.
At ASPAH (Australian Society for Performing Arts Healthcare), a diverse, inclusive, and equitable workplace is one where all employees and volunteers, whatever their gender, race, ethnicity, national origin, age, sexual orientation or identity, education or disability, feels valued and respected. We are committed to a nondiscriminatory approach and provide equal opportunity for employment and advancement in all of our departments, programs, and worksites. We respect and value diverse life experiences and heritages and ensure that all voices are valued and heard.
We are committed to modelling diversity and inclusion for the entire arts industry of the nonprofit sector, and to maintaining an inclusive environment with equitable treatment for all.
To provide informed, authentic leadership for cultural equity, ASPAH strives to:
- See diversity, inclusion, and equity as connected to our mission and critical to ensure the well-being of our staff and the arts communities we serve.
- Acknowledge and dismantle any inequities within our policies, systems, programs, and services, and continually update and report organisation progress.
- Explore potential underlying, unquestioned assumptions that interfere with inclusiveness.
- Advocate for and support board-level thinking about how systemic inequities impact our organisation’s work, and how best to address that in a way that is consistent with our mission.
- Help to challenge assumptions about what it takes to be a strong leader at our organisation, and who is well-positioned to provide leadership.
- Practice and encourage transparent communication in all interactions.
- Commit time and resources to expand more diverse leadership within our board, staff, committee, and advisory bodies.
- Lead with respect and tolerance. We expect all employees to embrace this notion and to express it in workplace interactions and through everyday practices.
ASPAH abides by the following action items to help promote diversity and inclusion in our workplace:
- Pursue cultural competency throughout our organisation by creating substantive learning opportunities and formal, transparent policies.
- Generate and aggregate quantitative and qualitative research related to equity to make incremental, measurable progress toward the visibility of our diversity, inclusion, and equity efforts. Once the content is curated it will be added to our website so others can access.
- Improve our cultural leadership pipeline by creating and supporting programs and policies that foster leadership that reflects the diversity of Australian society.
- Pool resources and expand offerings for underrepresented constituents by connecting with other arts organisations committed to diversity and inclusion efforts.
- Develop and present sessions on diversity, inclusion, and equity to provide information and resources internally, and to members, the community, and the arts industry.
- Develop a system for being more intentional and conscious of bias during the hiring, promoting, or evaluating process. Train all committee members on equitable practices.
- Include a salary range with all public job descriptions.
- Advocate for public and private-sector policy that promotes diversity, inclusion, and equity. Challenge systems and policies that create inequity, oppression and disparity.
PARTNERS / SPONSORS
Following are links to associated websites, including organisations that support the work of ASPAH, performing arts medicine organisations around the world, and performing arts medicine journals. These external links will help you find more information and resources on performing arts health issues.
Please Contact Us to report broken links.
Sponsors
ASPAH would particularly like to thank the following organisations for their support:
Partners
ASPAH collaborates with or is supported by the following organisations:
Performing Arts Medicine Organisations
Journals
Related Websites
