Her name was Marta Cinta González. She had once been a ballet dancer, and in her final years, she lived with severe memory loss.
Then someone plays music for her: the swelling theme from Tchaikovsky’s ballet Swan Lake.
At first, she gestures for the music to be turned up. Then her hands begin to flutter. Slowly, her arms rise. Her chin lifts. Her wrists cross in a graceful pose, and for a moment, her face lights up as if she is back on the stage.
The video was filmed in 2019 and shared in 2020 by a Spanish charity called Música para Despertar (“Music to Awaken”), which uses music to help people living with Alzheimer’s and dementia. Marta passed away before it went viral around the world.
A few things are worth knowing. The video is cut together with archive footage of a ballerina dancing. That dancer is not Marta. Dance experts later identified her as the Russian ballerina Ulyana Lopatkina, dancing a different piece, The Dying Swan. And some of the details about Marta’s career that spread online could not be confirmed. Even today, much about her life remains a mystery.
But none of that changes what we see in Marta herself.
Experts say music can reach people with dementia in a way that little else can, because our memories of music run so deep. Watching her, it’s easy to believe it.
The music found the dancer who was still inside her.
Has music ever helped someone you love? Share this with anyone caring for a loved one with memory loss.