Hospital Programme

Performances

Akademi dance artists regularly perform in the atriums, wards, admission and reception areas of several hospitals, including Chelsea Westminster Hospital and West Middlesex University Hospital.

Hospital performances are highly responsive, delivered and adapted for specific audiences in sensitive settings. Artists both perform for large groups of patients, visitors and staff as well as delivering more intimate experiences for smaller groups or individuals.

Participatory

Akademi’s participatory work extends into hospital wards, working closely with occupational therapy and physiotherapy teams, artists provide workshops in day rooms within the wards and at the bedside. For those who are not able to attend a group workshop due to physical or cognitive impairment, bringing dance to their bedside allows them to still engage in a creative activity and experience a different relationship with the dance artists and hospital staff on the ward, who often join in.

Dance can also be used as a rehabilitation tool, complimenting the work of the therapies team in preparing the patient for discharge from hospital. This can include dance movements that will aid patients in day to day tasks, such as using mudras to articulate the joints of the fingers and wrists, which may help with making a cup of tea, opening a cupboard, or holding a pen.

Akademi continues to expand this work, and advocate for dance to be embedded into the healthcare system, for both prevention and management of chronic conditions.