Dance, Ballerina, Dance

While the residents of a memory care community were discussing “Four Ballerinas on Stage”, by Edgar Degas, one resident named Bea began to hum a tune. Dee caught onto it and joined in. They felt the image reminded them of a song titled “Dance, Ballerina, Dance”. Our activity specialist, Alicia, was able to carry around her phone for all of the residents to see Nat King Cole perform the song. When Alicia came to Gwendolyn, she was thrilled and reached out to hold the phone, noting “He was so handsome.” Steve asked Alicia to linger awhile in front of him so he could hear the music longer. When music is combined with art, it touches people spiritually and emotionally. Sallie swayed as Alicia walked past her. Rosie shared about her experience as a ballet dancer and wished she had songs as nice as “Dance, Ballerina, Dance” when she was actually dancing.

Art and music offer unending ways to connect to meaningful memories and inspiration.