Vincent Yong has spent much of his life exploring a question that has shaped both his personal journey and his work: what becomes possible when we learn to work with our bodies rather than see them as limitations?
Born with a congenital heart condition, Vincent grew up aware of his physical vulnerability. Yet he went on to pursue dance, build an international career, and develop a practice that brings together dance, movement analysis, and somatic awareness to help people reconnect with themselves and expand their capacity to live well.
Upon his mother’s passing at the age of 48, a cousin diagnosed with breast cancer, and a dear friend suffering a stroke, Vincent questioned his then purpose of dancing. In 2012, he heeded a calling and founded Danspire International. Danspire combines the Dutch word “dans”, meaning dance, with “inspire”. “Together, the name reflects my belief in inspiring people through dance, movement and greater self-awareness,” Vincent explains. Dance had pushed him to live a far fuller life than many expected of him, and he wanted it to do the same for others.
The Body and the Brain
Growing up with a medical “hole-in-the-heart”, Vincent experienced a psychosocial one through the break-up of his parents. He began to be concerned with how one can survive these conditions. His curiosity and his keen sense of observation, not just visually but also sensing his body led him to grow his awareness of the relationship between the body, emotion, mind and the environment one is in. He realized that movement, a heightened sense of awareness, and an evolving mindset could help people regulate their emotions, improve focus, and take a more active role in their own wellbeing. The more he learnt and practiced, the clearer it became that body and mind needed to be addressed together rather than separately.
That clarity led to a bold decision. In the final year of an engineering diploma, he quit to study dance, despite disapproval from family and friends. In 2002, Vincent graduated from LASALLE College of the Arts as the Most Outstanding Student in his faculty, became the first male dance student to receive the SIA Award of Excellence in the Arts, and his year’s valedictorian. Opportunities followed, from choreographing for National Day Parades to studying at Codarts in the Netherlands, where he earned a Bachelor of Dance in 2008.
Dancing was Vincent’s way to align thoughts with actions. And to repeat that, is to reinforce the brain and body’s connection. He then began to teach this as an embodied form of congruence practice — to say what we mean, and to mean what we say.
Turning Grief Into Purpose
His mother’s death in 2009 became the catalyst for using dance more deeply, as a medium for coaching and therapeutic experiences. At the time, many saw dance as either an abstract art form or a hobby. Vincent knew from his own grief that it could be healing and empowering, and he wanted others to experience it too.
He taught at various institutions and, around 2010, began integrating science into his work, researching somatic practice more deeply. Somatic work was unfamiliar to the majority of the Singaporeans he came across, but Vincent had known it since 1999 and had intuitively applied it as a child to cope with his own condition. In 2012, he founded Danspire International as a platform to help others through dance and somatic practices.
After a dance of closure, a performance he created to express his gratitude to his mother and her death in 2013, Vincent marked his new chapter in life by spending two years in New York. In 2015, he became the first and only Singapore’s Certified Movement Analyst in the Laban Bartenieff Movement System/Laban Movement Analysis from the Laban Institute of Movement Studies and the first Southeast Asian to be conferred the titles of Registered Somatic Movement Educator and Therapist. He also trained as a Cancer Exercise Specialist, with Dr Martha Eddy, a work that held deep meaning after watching his mother’s own struggle with cancer.
Listen, Observe, Validate, Empathise
For Vincent, the most rewarding work is with people who have been told what they cannot do, or have been sentenced with a diagnosis that turned their lives upside down, be it a stroke or anxiety. Just because we cannot do something does not mean we cannot do anything. Hence, he takes special satisfaction in giving hope and helping clients live as fully as they can.
Shifting the way of how dance is taught for the viewing pleasure of others, Vincent teaches dance with the focus on the presence of the “dancer”. As he directs the attention to how dancers are moving, he concurrently creates the “embodied epiphanies” in them. The experience transforms the way they sense their bodies, feel about themselves, and refine the way decisions are made. All the body and social sciences required in the process are applied to achieve a personal change with precision and individualization even when conducted in a group.
Over time, the L.O.V.E.: Listen, Observe, Validate, and Empathise, framework evolved. It helps any mover to tune into their real-time physical condition, mental state, cognitive acuity and social-spatial relationship. He teaches the same framework to clients and students so they can attune to their own bodies anywhere anytime.
Pioneering at Home
Returning to Singapore in 2016, Vincent found somatic work still in its infancy. Sharing it with healthcare professionals and institutions met with plenty of indifference. Each rejection reminded him of the boy who had been told so many “cannots”, and those disappointments became seeds of resilience.
In 2017, he published his book, Flow: The Art of Creating AbunDance, and contributed to his teacher, Dr Martha Eddy’s book, Mindful Movement: The Evolution of the Somatic Arts and Conscious Action. He has since brought his expertise to global audiences, presenting at the Movement: Brain, Body, Cognition conference at Harvard University, The Embodiment Conference, the National Counselling & Psychotherapy Conference, and the International Association for Dance Medicine & Science.
Even when his work was more readily embraced overseas, Vincent always saw Singapore as home. The teachers who shaped him during his formative years left indelible footprints in him and perhaps that is why he returns home time after time to do the same for seekers of knowledge.
A Dance With Entrepreneurship
Like many founders, Vincent faced financial uncertainty early on. With very limited capital, he had to plan his cash flow meticulously. Because the market did not yet understand his work, attracting clients was a challenge, and he promoted his programmes wherever he could. Each rejection prompted him to reflect on how he could explain his work more clearly.
Self-doubt crept in at times, but he held on to the lives he had already changed. He broke big goals into actionable steps, reminding himself: “One step at a time. Like dance.” Knowing his own limitations, he delegates work beyond his expertise, such as technology and website security, to trusted specialists.
Giving Back
Vincent’s community work began after his mother’s passing. From missionary work with orphans in Cambodia to cancer communities in New York, Vincent returned to Singapore and continued to work with non-profit organisations that support seniors, single mothers and also those suffering from stroke. For him, giving back is about helping people understand themselves better through movement and awareness. As he puts it, with characteristic humour, “I have a heart that I have been listening to for a long time… and it is now time to listen to those of others.”
Still Standing, Still Building
“‘Somatic’ is a word I have known since 1999, and when I left Singapore, not many knew what it was,” Vincent says. “I am happy to say it has gotten trendy now and people are applying it in a variety of industries which is heartwarming.”
His focus remains “to keep refining the work so that it continues to serve people in a meaningful way”, while building systems that keep Danspire International sustainable. Many of those who now support the work began as students or clients, drawn to its core pillars, which Vincent sums up simply: “It is really about love and respect.”
Moving Beyond Fear
Having lived with the uncertainty that life could end at any time, Vincent knows how fear can creep along and into life too. “Do not get too caught up in fear. While we may not always be fearless, we can fear less. Just be sure to create space.” In business, fear is natural, especially when you are starting something new and everything feels uncertain,” he advises. “Maintain the will and humility to serve. And as you trailblaze, the courage you cultivate shall support your pioneering of what is worthwhile and maybe… life-changing.”
The phrase he still repeats to himself is “incremental progression”. The legacy he hopes to leave is a deeper understanding that dance is more than fun. It comes with a suite of holistic health and social benefits too. Above all, he urges others to act with love and respect, and to pay kindness forward, just as his teachers once did for him.
Website: https://www.danspire.com/
AUTHOR BIO
ALAN KOH
Alan Koh is the Founder and CEO of Impossible Marketing, a group of companies renowned for hyperlocal marketing strategies tailored to businesses in Singapore. His professional journey began in the banking sector, where he quickly rose through the ranks, garnering eight industry awards in just four years.
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