Heng will revisit Let's Walk on Jan 20 for the festival and as part of a workshop with art and design students from various institutions. The students and members of the public are invited to join her on the walk once again.
From September to last month, she also walked around Singapore for an exhibition that will run from May 10 to 27 at Objectifs gallery.
Theatre students doing their Bachelor of Arts at Nafa say the festival commission they are working on, Step Outta Line, is their first exposure to Heng's work - apart perhaps from selfies taken unknowingly at museums exhibiting her art.
Under the direction of theatremaker Thong Pei Qin, in a rehearsal space at the academy, 11 female students hiss at and menace the lone male in their group with high-heeled shoes on their hands and ears.
They explore issues from social decorum to sexual harassment and violence against women, using texts extracted from seven published and one unpublished work by the blackly comic playwright Ovidia Yu. (Included are critically acclaimed works such as Three Fat Virgins and Hitting (On) Women.)
Thong, 31, says: "What line do you have to maintain and according to whose standard? How far do we get pushed before we act out?"
The students, aged 19 to 26, have to wear the heels at some point in time. Few own a pair. They have borrowed shoes from their mothers or The Necessary Stage, the theatre group behind the annual festival.
Most say high heels are uncomfortable, yet all associate the footwear with power. Student Keith Lee, 24, says: "When I see my classmates put on heels, it does create the effect of me taking them more seriously."
Fellow performer Lareina Tham, 23, says heels give her good posture and confidence. "When I wear heels, I don't slouch. When I wear slippers, I slouch."
Over at Centre 42, director Podesta and performers Koh Wan Ching, Ma Yanling and Yarra Ileto agree that heels are not for everyday use, but are a must for special occasions - or when they want to feel more feminine.
Along with dancer Dapheny Chen, they are working on The Immortal Sole, a dance performance based on the tale of The Little Mermaid.
They examine a soft, woollen mermaid blanket, worn like a fishtail over the lower half of the body, bought online. Podesta is fascinated by the permanent place mermaids have in pop culture, from the 1989 Disney movie The Little Mermaid to the frenzy over the Starbucks mermaid Frappucino.
Exploring beauty and feminine stereotypes
For Podesta, 37, The Little Mermaid story is about growing up, asserting independence, running away from parents and also the restrictions that come with womanhood. "There will be a time when a girl stops running and sweating and begins to think of how she appears to other people. When we 'get our legs', it entails getting a skirt and high heels, so it's a restriction for women."
There will be no prince in The Immortal Sole, only the mermaid and her female friends and relatives. Yet this is challenging for Ma, 35, as the dancers improvise movements for the characters. "What kind of images come to mind when we talk about the female body? Is it breastfeeding, putting on make-up? We got stuck trying to portray femininity," she says, laughing.