Dance Company Goes ‘Eek & Wild’ at Milton Keynes University Hospital

Press Release 24/11/2025

Arts for Health Milton Keynes (AfHMK) have invited Eek & Wild contemporary dance company into Milton Keynes University Hospital(MKUH) to work with the paediatric department to engage young patients and their families with the physical interpretation of images and themes present in the art collection around the hospital.

About Eek and Wild
Eek & Wild was founded in 2020 by professional dancers Ella Fleetwood, Emily Yong and Katie Albon with a heart for spreading joy and creativity through dance. Their work is shaped by a commitment to child-led creativity, with performances co-created alongside children who decide what they want to experience and how they wish to engage and participate.

This project is an innovative way to encourage the youngest patients in the hospital to be curious and engage with the art collection in a fun, inspiring and inclusive way. Dancers will be onsite throughout the autumn featuring performances in November and December 2025, performed by the bedside, in waiting rooms and on the wards.

These activities provide therapeutic and developmental benefits, transforming the often-intimidating hospital environment into a space of inspiration and comfort, supporting mental and emotional wellbeing.

Recent UK research highlights the therapeutic value of dance improvisation in clinical settings. A Coventry University doctoral study (Dowler, 2024) found that improvised and somatic movement in hospital environments—such as Alder Hey Children’s Hospital—can enhance wellbeing, reduce suffering, and support a greater sense of agency among patients, families, and staff. Similarly, Edge Hill University and Small Things Dance Collective report early findings from their Embodied Adventures in Medicine project, indicating that improvised dance helps children in acute care express emotion, cope with pain, and experience psychological relief.

This project is one part of a major grant from The National Lottery Heritage Fund to reimagine the art collection at MKUH and to involve the hospital community (patients, carers, visitors and staff) by widening the reach of the art collection through active engagement. This is dovetailed by funding from Milton Keynes City Council as well as Milton Keynes Hospital Charity, who commission the services of AfHMK on behalf of the hospital.

The Collection formed over the last forty years includes paintings, prints, drawings, sculpture and photography, is on public display in the hospital’s extensive corridors, waiting areas and wards. It includes work by major artists such as Boyd & Evans, Sonia Lawson, Aubrey Williams and Alun Leach-Jones.

A short video of a mini show Eek & Wild made inspired by Chelsea and Westminster Hospital art collection can be viewed here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch

“Saving our 'New City Collection' and reframing its future with local communities” is made possible with The National Lottery Heritage Fund. Thanks to National Lottery players, we have been able to undertake this wide ranging and exciting new conservation and development project at Milton Keynes University Hospital.

︎︎︎Download the press release here