B.A. (Hons) in Music, University of Cambridge; M.St. in Musicology, University of Oxford
Leia is a writer, composer, and dance-learner from Singapore. Her research interests span music/sound philosophy, queer theory and performance, aesthetics under 24/7 capitalism—and whatever will catch her fancy tomorrow! She is fascinated by the intersection of creative and academic writing, and is working to refine a writing idiom (drawn from literary, argumentative, and musical styles) best suited to the performing art traditions she takes as subjects of research. She finds fulfillment in generating theory from and through sensory bodily experiences. This practice has informed her previous work in performative music analysis, and her current project of creating a "queer phenomenology" (following Sara Ahmed) of dancing the "Classical" Indian Dance form Odissi, which comprises research, poetry, and performance. She looks forward to developing her ideas in this and many other directions during her Ph.D. at UC Berkeley.