Creative Caring with Diane Busuttil

This workshop offers an immersive, practice-based insight into Creative Caring. A movement-led methodology for engaging older adults and people in clinical environments through dance, theatre, and co-creative care.

Designed for artists of any discipline who are interested in socially-engaged art making and keen to integrate care-led methods into their own practice, this session will explore how to adapt artistic processes for aged care and hospital settings. Participants will learn how to modify movement for varied mobility levels, engage people with cognitive impairments through non-verbal techniques, and enhance inclusion without compromising artistic integrity.

Through playful improvisation, attentive presence, and short choreographic explorations, the workshop invites artists to embody care, empathy, and creativity within institutional and clinical settings. Over 2.5 hours, we will also reflect on the evolving role of the artist as caregiver, offering tools for deep listening, ethical facilitation, and sustainable self-care.

Expected Learning Outcomes:

• Develop deep listening as a foundation for care-led creative practice.

• Adapt movement and theatre activities for diverse physical and cognitive needs.

• Understand the Creative Caring model: its structure, philosophy, and application.

• Learn how creative tools can enhance wellbeing and connection in medical spaces, with attention to dementia support.

• Explore art as social medicine and its role in health and community settings.
  

Who Is This For:

Artists, dancers, theatre-makers, educators, and care professionals from any discipline who are interested in socially engaged, inclusive, and health-informed creative practice; Especially those seeking to adapt these approaches to their own work.

About the Facilitator:

Diane Busuttil is a leader in the field of socially engaged dance practice, specialising in movement-based engagement with older adults in aged care and hospital settings. With over three decades of experience in both professional performance and community-based arts practice, Diane holds formal training in contemporary dance, physical theatre, and somatic movement education. She has trained internationally with pioneers in dance theatre and has worked extensively in interdisciplinary contexts alongside artists, aged care workers, and cultural institutions. She is a qualified Dance for Parkinson’s teacher and has completed numerous courses about dementia and the arts through the University of Tasmania MOOC program.

Her facilitation style draws upon evidence-based methodologies that prioritise empathy, creativity, and inclusivity. As the founder and artistic director of Creative Caring Australia, Diane has developed a unique model of practice that bridges the gap between artistic excellence and person-centred care. Her programs are recognised for their impact on cognitive stimulation, emotional wellbeing, and community connection, redefining what is possible in care environments through the arts.

Diane conducts Spring for Seniors, a dance theatre workshop program for over 55s, at the Sydney Opera House monthly for over two years. The program has recently been doubled due to popular demand, proving that older bodies need movement and joy in their lives.

Since 2022, she has been working on collaborative socially engaged projects with The CAD Factory and training other artists in integrating a care strategy into their practice.

Access requirements:

We welcome all visitors to the City of Sydney Creative Studios and are committed to making it accessible and inclusive for everyone. If you have access requirements, please tick the access requirements box during the booking process. This includes booking companion card tickets. A Brand X team member will then be in touch to ensure we understand your requirements. If you require an interpreter, or would like to contact someone about access, please email Dean Nash (Access Coordinator) at access@brandx.org.au.

How to get there:

• Train: Town Hall Station 2-minute walk.

• Light Rail: 2-5 minute walk from light rail platforms

• Metro: Gadigal Station is a 1 minute walk from the Bathurst Street exit/entrance

• Bus: 5 minute walk from Elizabeth Street, Stand C and D

• Car: Wilson Parking, 14 Wilmot St, Sydney or Meriton Suite Parking, 100 Bathurst St, Sydney.

Register for a building tour:

We would love to show you around the City of Sydney Creative Studios. Email programs@brandx.org to organise a 30 minute tour before the session starts, we'll show you our Performance, Music, Digital and Visual Arts spaces.

Exchanges and refunds:

Want to cancel your ticket? Please email us at programs@brandx.org. If you purchased a ticket, we can refund your tickets minus transaction fees of 1.75% + 30c. Please cancel/refund your ticket no less than 24 hours prior to workshop commencement. 

Photo by Darinka Maja, Legs on the Wall artist residency at Red Box Theatre.