Alexis Milligan Knows what Doctors can Learn from Theatre

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 critical gaps in medical education.

Alexis also opens up about podcasting — both as the host of Finding Creativity and as the host of the Shaw Festival's own Let's Get This Shaw on the Road podcast. She and Phil share a candid conversation about the realities of building an audience for niche arts programming, the importance of pulling back the curtain for audiences, and why Canadian theatre needs to get louder about the value it brings to communities.

This episode explores:

• What movement direction is — and how it differs from choreography
• The physical challenges of period costuming and why rehearsal corsets matter from day one
• Emotional bleed, the actor's cool-down, and the practice of 'taking off the mask'
• How the Theatre of Medicine is using performing arts skills to improve patient outcomes and physician well-being
• The power of pulling back the curtain to build new and loyal theatre audiences
• And much more!

Guest: 🎭 Alexis Milligan

Canadian actor, movement specialist and director Alexis Milligan practices and teaches a diverse range of work from theatre and film to movement direction and puppetry. Currently, she is the resident Movement Director at the Shaw Festival, host of the “Let’s Get This Shaw on The Road” podcast, and the director of the ground-breaking Theatre of Medicine program, created in partnership with the Canadian Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons.

Alexis is a much sought after teacher and arts educator. Her unique approach blends the arts and science by sharing knowledge through experiential learning - which simply means learning through doing. She holds a diploma in Classical Performance from George Brown Theatre School, a diploma in University Teaching from Renaissance College, and a master’s in interdisciplinary studies, combining the performing arts, communication, education, and neuroscience, from the University of New Brunswick.

She has served as a consultant for the Canadian Medical Protective Association and has sat on the steering committees for the Canadian Network of Imagination and Creativity and the Atlantic Centre for Creativity, as well as host of the “Finding Creativity” podcast. Alexis is a regular guest teacher at NYU Tisch School for the Performing Arts, The Verbier Festival, The European Association of Urology (TIP Program), Dalhousie University School of Nursing, and University of New Brunswick, School of Nursing.

Connect with Alexis Milligan:

🌐 Website: www.alexismilligan.com

📸 Instagram: @milligan.spike

🎙️ Podcast: Let's Get This Shaw on the Road

🎙️ Podcast: Finding Creativity

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