THE CONTAGIOUS DANCE

 also known as:

THE DANCING PLAGUE OR DANCING FEVER

Date : 1518

Reason : nonspecific

Location : Strasbourg Alsace Medieval Town France

First case : Frau Troffea

Number of cases : 400+

Span : 3 months (July - September)

In July 1518, Strasbourg Alsace Medieval Town in the Alsatian region of France. A woman with the name given as Frau Troffea blitzed onto the tiny road of her street out of no where and started dancing. No records showed where she was heading from whether she's suffering from her own karma or she's just a catalyst to the curse placed on her town by the gods. This dancing continued for nearly a week of exhaustion-rest-resumption before she was joined by more than 30 other people. New month August saw the dancing epidemic claim more victims in the region of 400. The dancing is almost looking impossible to stop and with no other reason for this strange activity, the local authorities turned to the religious leaders and physicians for help. After the consultation, the religious leaders were the first to come up with a theory that a big dancing stage should be constructed and professional dancers and singers were brought in to support the backing music provided by the musical band hired with the hope that the dancing will stop dancing from exhaustion if they dance for days without resting, but all this effort piled more miseries. 

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Many dancers collapsed and remain unconscious from the exhaustion. Some even died from stress and heart failures. The physicians finally came up with their own theory and blamed it on “hot blood” and suggested the music should be stopped and stages constructed are demolished. They instructed the local authorities to let the dancers dance without any enhancers with the believe that the dancing is the antidote to wipe away the fever. It still looks like nothing is stopping this fever until September when local authorities decided to seek help from foreign physicians. 

Best of the best physicians were invited to work together to solve this strange problem and after the study it was theorized that the town is suffering from the wrath of gods. Soon this message was broadcast to the entire town. Days later significant number of people went on pilgrimage to a mountain top shrine while others stayed behind to keep and close look into the situation while some were also mobilized to pass information between the two parties. Prayers was observed for weeks continuously without rest until information was passed to them that the dancing has stopped. Residents hug each others in joy and happiness in their way home. Days later sacrifices were made to the gods to show appreciation.

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Different theories having been made on this plague. Some believed the dancers must have consumed a contaminated. American historian John Waller  believed that the dancing plague was a form of mass psychogenic disorder and he further described that St. Vitus, patron saint of epileptics and of dancers, cursed them and forced them to dance.