News

An elite performance psychologist and leadership consultant will challenge traditional views of dance in her new role at Queensland University of Technology (QUT).

Recently appointed Associate Professor Gene Moyle will use her experiences with Energex, the Australian Winter Olympic Team, the Queensland Academy of Sport and The Australian Ballet School to rejuvenate Queensland's only tertiary-level dance education institution.

The new discipline head believes the stability of a permanent director and a fresh outlook will assist to further strengthen QUT's dance program.

"As part of QUT, the Creative Industries Faculty, and the broader dance and performing arts community, we have the opportunity to draw upon multiple sources of specialist information and ideas to support the development of our students, and assist them to reach their goals in dance," Associate Professor Moyle said.

The former graduate of QUT Dance and the Australian Ballet School has performed with both The Australian Ballet Dancers' Company and the Queensland Ballet.

She said it is an exciting time for dance in Queensland, with the recent appointment of Li Cunxin as artistic director of the Queensland Ballet; the national recognition of Expressions Dance Company's artistic director Natalie Weir; Raewyn Hills' strongly recognised contribution as Artistic Director of DanceNorth; and the increasing spotlight on dance as a key component of the highly successful Brisbane Festival.

"Many highly acclaimed international dance companies and artists are identifying Brisbane as a destination of choice," Associate Professor Moyle said.

"There are a growing number of education programs that are seeing dance reach out into populations and communities that have never had the opportunity to connect as closely with the art form, contributing to a vibrant and dynamic landscape to explore."

Her interest in performance psychology led her to pursue studies outside of dance, including a Masters and Doctorate in Sport and Exercise Psychology. She started a psychology consulting business in 2000 focused on performance enhancement for organisations, teams and individuals across the sport, business and performing arts sectors, and has worked across a number of industries in Australia and overseas including employment, safety and allied health.

As a senior performance psychologist, she worked with Australian Winter Olympic teams including the skeleton, short-track speed skating and cross-country skiing coaches - attending the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver as part of the Australian Team.

Having worked with large businesses and with some of Australia's best athletes and performing artists, she believes that dance techniques and principles can be connected to, and integrated with, many other disciplines.

"Dance and movement has been scientifically proven by neuroscientists to be helpful not only for our brains, but for our emotional wellbeing," she said.

"When we think about dance, it is helpful to consider that there are a broader range of applications than the performing context alone. While performing is a key component and links into other shared domains such as dance medicine and science and creative practice - how are we considering what we can take from dance and how this can be integrated into health, wellbeing, education, leadership, and creativity of thinking in more traditional settings?"

She was the senior advisor in sport and exercise psychology at the Queensland Academy of Sport for seven years, and is the immediate past national chair of the Australian Psychological Society's College of Sport and Exercise Psychologists.

In 2011 she managed the health and welfare program at The Australian Ballet School in Melbourne, before moving on to become responsible for leadership and people development as the Learning and Development Manager for Energex.

For the past 10 years she has been a regular contributor to Dance Australia Magazine and has been published in a number of national and international sports magazines and professional journals.

Organisation

QUT Dance

Info

Gene Moyle

Phone

07 3138 3616

Email

g.moyle@qut.edu.au

URL

http://www.qut.edu.au/study/study-areas/study-dance