'Alive Inside': A Must Watch Documentary

Over the past week I got a ton ton of messages recommending I watch and post the clip above. It is from "Alive Inside", a documentary that demonstrates the profound connections between music and memory by showing the experiences of a group of older adults living with dementia who are given iPods filled with their favorite music.

The film, produced and directed by Michael Rossato-Bennett, follows Dan Cohen (a social worker) as he exposes patients living in nursing homes to music to try and spark their memory. The transformative effects are instantaneous and heartwarming, as previously unresponsive patients reawaken, filled with memory, wanting to sing and dance. Cohen is the director of a non-profit organization called Music and Memory , which donates iPods to patients in nursing homes.

"Alive Inside" will be screened next week at the Ruben Museum of Art in New York City. If you are in that city I highly recommend attending. Warm fuzzies guaranteed. The clip has been flying around like crazy on Facebook and Twitter over the last couple of days. If you dig it, pass it along. It looks like a great movie. But more importantly, the project and its mission deserves tons of attention. The more people that hear about this and start to think about dementia the better, in my opinion.

Listening to Henry describe music makes me happy, especially when he scats like Cab Calloway. Music is an amazing thing.