Norwich School Blog

Old Novicensian Emily on Her Dance Performances for Care Home Residents

On 6 July, ONs Emily and Ellie performed serval dances for the residents of The Great Hospital in Norwich. This is the third time they have performed there, after beginning at the end of the first lockdown as a way to boost morale for those in care homes, who were some of the most isolated during the pandemic. We caught up with Emily to hear more about the experience: 

"At the end of the first Covid-19 lockdown, we, as U6 pupils, devised an initiative to perform dances in the gardens of local care homes, to help combat loneliness and boost the morale of elderly residents who had been unable to receive visitors during the pandemic. One of these care homes was the Great Hospital in the Cathedral Close. It was a wonderful experience for us as we received such a positive reaction to our performances, with residents even bobbing along to the music themselves!

Fast forward two years, and we have just returned for our third dance performance at the Great Hospital! For us it is a privilege to be invited back for the third year running even after moving on to university. We have both just finished our second years at uni, studying Biological Sciences at Durham (Emily) and Physiotherapy at Leicester (Ellie). After being so involved with dance at Norwich School, it is something that both of us have continued to pursue as a co-curricular activity in university life. We have even had the opportunity to compete at national competitions for our respective universities in many styles of dance and cheerleading. Therefore, it is incredibly special for us to be able to dance together again and such a heart-warming experience to bring joy to the Great Hospital residents year-on-year."