More than just book-smart

Cheryl Tee - January 14, 2018

Ashley Ho, who achieved a perfect score at last November's IB diploma exams, is a dancer from Sota. She started Parkinson's Grooves - where she and others conducted movement therapy sessions for Parkinson's patients - after being inspired by her father's own battle with the disease. She is also preparing a poetry manuscript for Sing Lit Station, and has an internship at dance repertory company Frontier Danceland.ST PHOTO: JAMIE KOH

ASHLEY HO YUHAN, SCHOOL OF THE ARTS

Having watched her father's debilitating battle with Parkinson's disease for the past 11 years, Ashley Ho was inspired to start Parkinson's Grooves, a project under the School of the Arts (Sota).

With a team of 10, she conducted hour-long, bi-monthly movement therapy sessions at the Parkinson's Society in 2016, combining her love for dance with a desire to inspire self-confidence in Parkinson's patients. "Dance is a natural thing to get you moving. We decided to bring that to a larger community," she said.

Ashley, 18, is a ballet and contemporary dancer from Sota. At last November's International Baccalaureate (IB) diploma exams, she achieved the perfect 45 points.

Sota might be an unusual choice for the academically inclined Ashley, who also scored 259 in the PSLE. However, she gave up a spot at a top mainstream school to pursue an arts-focused education.

"Sota is like a pot. You just throw everyone in, and the only commonality is that you enjoy the arts in some form. I've met a lot of people whom I would never have gotten to meet (if I had gone to other schools)," she said.

Ashley first took to the arts school after a tour of its old Goodman Road campus when she was in Primary 3. "I saw how lively and vibrant the students there were... so it was somewhere I wanted to go," she said.

She is the only daughter of Mr Ivan Ho, 51, and Madam Amanda Ng, 47, and has a 16-year-old brother studying at Hwa Chong Institution.

Two weeks ago, a medical officer advised her father to quit his part-time job at satellite operator SES in the light of his deteriorating condition. "Sometimes he's crumpled on the floor, or he's not able to talk. Sometimes he has breathing problems because his tongue gets stuck in his throat," she said.

But the family of four makes it a point to spend Sundays together. "We won't blame anyone for (his condition), because that's how it is. We're already very lucky to go out as a family," she said.

Ashley is now preparing a poetry manuscript for literary non-profit organisation Sing Lit Station, on top of having an internship at dance repertory company Frontier Danceland and a part-time job at a restaurant.

But despite her penchant for writing, she does not intend to study it in university. "Writing is something you can practise, gain more exposure to, but I can get these things from monthly mentorships or workshops. I don't think you need a three-year study or a degree to be able to write," she said.

She hopes to receive the National Arts Council Arts Scholarship so as to further her studies at the London Contemporary Dance School.

But Ashley wants to be more than just a dancer. She aspires to be an interdisciplinary artist, giving her the flexibility to switch between art forms like dancing and writing, and even teaching and choreography.

"I guess (it's not that I don't fit) in a box, but that a box doesn't fit me. If I were to be a full-time dancer, I would always want more."

http://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/education/more-than-just-book-smart