It’s the only form of protest they’re allowed
I’ve seen their silent faces scream so loud
If they were to speak these words they’d go missing too
Another woman on a torture table what else can they do
They’re dancing with the missing
They’re dancing with the dead
They dance with the invisible ones
Their anguish is unsaid
They’re dancing with their fathers
They’re dancing with their sons
They’re dancing with their husbands
They dance alone
They dance alone
Los Angeles, CA–Sting’s 1987 song “They Dance Alone (Cueca Solo)” was inspired by the public demonstrations of grief by the wives and daughters of men missing in Chile, presumed tortured and murdered by the Pinochet military dictatorship of the 1970s and 1980s. These brave women danced la cueca, a traditional Chilean dance, by themselves, with photos of the men they loved and lost pinned to their clothes.
Watch the video here.