Alexis Milligan Knows what Doctors can Learn from Theatre
About this episode
Alexis Milligan discusses the intersection of theatre and medicine, focusing on movement direction and its impact on healthcare.
About This Episode: What does it mean to move with intention? For Alexis Milligan, movement is everything — every breath, every blink, every shift of weight tells a story. As the Resident Movement Director at the Shaw Festival, Alexis works at the intersection of physical storytelling, design, and performance, helping actors inhabit their roles from the inside out. In this episode, Phil and Alexis dig into what movement direction actually is, how it differs from choreography, and why getting rehearsal corsets and headpieces into the room early can mean the difference between injury and artistry. But Alexis's work extends well beyond the rehearsal hall. She is the creator and director of the Groundbreaking Theatre of Medicine program — an accredited continuing professional development program through the University of Toronto that brings performing arts skills directly to physicians, surgeons, and healthcare providers. The research is unambiguous: when patients feel heard and seen by their doctors, their outcomes improve. Alexis is building the bridge between those two worlds, using theatre games, movement exercises, and the transferable skills of the performing arts to fill…
People in this episode
Host: Phil
Guest: Alexis Milligan
Topics covered
- movement direction
- theatre in medicine
- physical storytelling
- actor training
- medical education
- podcasting
Keywords
- movement direction
- theatre
- medical education
- actor training
- physical storytelling
- podcasting
Mentioned in this episode
Organizations: Shaw Festival, University of Toronto, Finding Creativity, Let's Get This Shaw on the Road
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