Search icon

Life

11th Nov 2020

Former ballerina with Alzheimer’s listens to Swan Lake and remembers routine

This is so heartwarming.

Melissa Carton

This is so heartwarming.

Alzheimer’s is a progressive disorder that causes brain cells to degenerate which begins to affect a person’s memory and ability to function independently.

One thing that has been noted by medical professionals working with Alzheimer’s is that often times while a patient may not remember what they did that day they can remember things from their childhood or events that happened decades ago.

Recently former ballerina Marta C Gonzalez did just this when upon hearing Tchaikovsky’s Swan Lake, she was able to remember the entire routine from her youth.

The video shows Gonzalez sitting in her wheelchair but the moment she hears the music she immediately begins to do the routine to the famous ballet.

Gonzalez was a prima ballerina who danced in New York during the 1960s and performed Tchaikovsky’s Swan Lake hundreds of times during her extensive career.

At the end of the video a photograph is shown of Gonzalez performing Swan Lake in 1967.

While Gonzalez passed away in 2019 the video clip of her dancing has begun to recirculate on social media after it was shared by Spanish musical therapy group – Música para Despertar.

Since it’s upload the video has been shared thousands of time across social media platforms.