Page 59 - Proceedings Collega2023

As a performing arts instructor with a disability, I am aware of the physical challenges and injuries
one can suffer that directly impact one's practice, especially for dancers, actors, and even choreographers
and directors. Dance and drama are two interdependent art forms that experience the moving and
thinking body and mind in similar ways. Dance has long been a communal activity, employed as ritual and
in social or religious settings, during courtship, in shamanism, for fertility, war, hunting, and at rites of
passage, as well as it can stimulate, modify, and express emotions (Payne & Costas, 2021). This can be
related to one of the keywords of this paper which is Igal:

“…Within the community of the nomadic ‘sea gypsies’ of the Sulu Sea, the Sama Bajau or Bajau
Laut of Malaysia and the Sama Dilaut of the Southern Philippines share commonalities in the way
dancers …Ritual healing ceremonies are signified with dancing (mag-igal)” (Mohd Anis Mad Nor,
& Hanafi Hussin, 2019)

Thus, the essence of Igal (dance) or mag-igal (dancing) is significant to be used in this alternative
process of therapeutic as it is still practiced as healing in the Bajau community. Additionally, techniques in
Emunah’s Five-phase Model of Dramatherapy will also be applied simultaneously. Drama often refers to
the written, intellectual, and or emotional context of a situation, which is intended for an audience, and
drama derives from the Greek word Drao which means action or to do (Codding, n.d.). Therefore,
aromatherapy is applied in the alternative process as a vessel to create action to heal People with Different
Abilities (PwDA).
These experiences of instructing dance, performing, researching, and writing have greatly
changed my worldview on the notion of performing arts as therapy. For instance, Purrington (2021) stated
that Drama therapists use specific types of theatre in combination with performance to provide
opportunities for healing (Wood, 2018; Emunah, 2015; Wood et al., 2020; Kaynan & Wade, 2018)(p.13).
This statement is one of the strong points for this study to be conducted, which hopes to help People with
Disabilities (PwDA) in Malaysia. This study argues that performing art such as Igal has the essence of
healing, therefore, PwDA with depression can be healed through a structured process that combines the
experience of Performing Arts therapy through the movements and acting of Igal from Sabah. This
research proposes an alternative process that allows PwDA to experience performing arts as therapy.

Background of Study and Problem Statement

A preliminary study by WHO states that an estimated 1.3 billion people experience a significant
disability representing 16% of the world’s population, or 1 in 6 of us (World Health Organization, 2023, 7
March). WHO also reported that Persons with disabilities have twice the risk of developing conditions such
as depression, asthma, diabetes, stroke, obesity or poor oral health. This information should be a firm
reminder for all countries including Malaysia, to ensure that persons with disabilities have access to the
same range of quality and standard of free or affordable health as other people. The rationale for
conducting this paper because the social inclusion of PwDA received little attention as a whole, even
though there were some mainstream activities, especially in cultural performance (Faizah Masud, et al.,
2015). However, social inclusion should not focus on organizing mainstream performances but also on
smaller-scale therapy processes using performing art in a more engaging session as well as a peaceful
environment that is suitable for PwDA with depression.

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