It involved groups of people dancing erratically, sometimes thousands at a time. I know it sounds kinda off, I felt the same, though, it is a real-life phenomenon that struck many in medieval Europe. Their plague was a bit different from Frau’s. And there was a plague pandemic long before the outbreak of the Black Death in 1346. A circular dancing plague broke in the city of Aachen in 1374. The Dancing Plague was the fourth and final story in the audio anthology Time Apart, which comprised the two hundred and sixty-sixth release in Big Finish's monthly range. The priest, unable to perform Mass because of the irreverent din from outside, ordered them to stop. The best-documented of these plagues took place in 1518. In fact, this is only the largest incident of this nature in the 16 th century. This pandemic ravaged the Byzantine Empire and Persia between 541-767 in fifteen separate outbreaks. And yes, the Dancing Plague of 1518 was a real thing—no matter how ridiculous it sounds. This mysterious plague wasn’t a one-time occurrence in 1518 but something that historians find reference to over the course of hundreds of years, and in places all over medieval Europe. The Dancing Plague (or Dance Epidemic) of 1518 was a case of dancing mania that occurred in Strasbourg, France (then part of the Holy Roman Empire) in July 1518. The first pandemic of the plague wasn’t the Black Death, but the Plague of Justinian, named for Justinian I, emperor of the Byzantine Empire from 527-565. The Dancing Plague of 1518. The leading pharmacological theory of the Dancing Plague is that it was an instance of a phenomenon named after yet another saint: St. Anthony’s Fire. Though it claimed the most lives, the France incident was not the first one. During the … The mania took over the entire city of Strasbourg sometime in the year 1518, and hundreds of people mindlessly danced themselves to death. In his book ‘A Time to Dance, A Time to Die’, Waller has put forth the argument that the series of events were the results of extreme anxiety and fear of the divine. Numerous people took to dancing for days without rest, and, over the period of about one month, some of the people died from heart attack, stroke, or exhaustion. Oh no. WikiCommons In July 1518 in Strasbourg, a woman named Frau Troffea began dancing in the street and could not stop. Dancing mania (also known as dancing plague, choreomania, St. John's Dance and St. Vitus' Dance) was a social phenomenon that occurred primarily in mainland Europe between the 14th and 17th centuries. A drawing of women affected by the dancing plague. Enough reports survive to tell us that many such episodes occurred. What we believe happened. I thought it was a reference to flash mobs or perhaps to Buffy The Vampire Slayer (given that when you dance too long, you expire), but I looked it up on Wikipedia. The dancing plague of France is probably one of the most famous epidemics in history. Every performer, every production wants to stand out. Article: Strange REAL Diseases: The Dancing Plague August 22, 2014, DrQ80 in Crazy, Funny, Health Related, Medical, Medicine, New Post, Religion Comments Off on Article: Strange REAL Diseases: The Dancing Plague The mania affected thousands of people at the very same time: men, women, and children, all danced until they collapsed or died from exhaustion. It was written by Kate Thorman and featured Peter Davison as the Fifth Doctor. On Christmas Eve in 1021, 18 people gathered outside a church in the German town of Kölbigk and danced with wild abandon. When the plague broke out in Madagascar in 2017, officials were trying to put an end to a ritual called "famadihana", or dancing with the dead. As the real cause of the dancing plague was unknown, many of the treatments for it were simply hopeful guesses, although some did seem effective. Medieval Europe had no shortages of plagues, super deadly disease outbreaks that could wipe out a chunk of the population without much effort. For you see, Mrs Troffea didn’t just dance for a while and go home. Similarly, the citizens of Strasbourg weren’t against buying into what Mrs Troffea was offering. However, have you come across the term dancing plague? Strasbourg 1518 choreographer and director Lucy Marinkovich could have done without carving out one particular piece of history. It was certainly real, and it's unsolved. “We had the dubious honour of being the first show in New Zealand to … The dancing plague (or dance epidemic) of 1518 was a case of dancing mania that occurred in Strasbourg, Alsace (now modern-day France), in the Holy Roman Empire in July 1518. In the startling account written by physician Paracelsus, the “dancing plague of Strasbourg” started when a woman stepped out of her home and started shaking in the street. It affected people from the 14th to the 17th century. The Dancing Mania, the Dancing Plague; stories say a whole series of these happened in Europe throughout the Middle Ages until the 17th century. The mania affected men, women, and children who danced until they collapsed from … The dancing plague, also referred to as a dancing mania, is reported to have happened throughout parts of Western Europe. Watch the video above to discover the truth behind history’s most mysterious illness. ... whether real or imaginary, through a population and society as … Known as St Vitus’ Dance, the dancing plague is documented surfacing in continental Europe as early as the 11th Century. 1. That traditional term refers to a condition that broke out occasionally in medieval Europe in which victims convulsed uncontrollably, which could resemble dancing. It does sound like the dancing plague of 1518 is a hoax of the time but there are actual accounts of this happening. The 1374 outbreak occurred only decades after the Black Death , and was treated in a similar fashion: dancers were isolated, and some were exorcized. Believe It or Not!, this isn’t your run-of-the-mill urban legend, as it is heavily documented in historical records of the time. the dancing plague the strange true story of an extraordinary illness john waller author sourcebooks 2499 278p isbn 978 1 40221 943 6 in strasbourg in 1518 a dance craze began that far browse more videos playing next 016 the dancing plague the strange true story of an extraordinary illness books amazonca skip to main contentca hello. To find out the real cause of the Dancing Plague of 1518 and how it ultimately ended, listen to this week’s episode of the podcast! The enraged priest, recorded a local chronicler, … The most notable incident of this plague occurred in the summer of 1518 in Strasbourg, France, where people would drop dead from exhaustion. One of the most bizarre incidents of 1518 – “The Dancing Plague” is unforgettable in the history of humankind. Dancing Plague: The dancing plague was a strange incident in 1518 in which hundreds of people danced in the street with no clear intention. Abby goes into great detail as she explains the bizarre history of the dancing sickness, other instances of it in the Middle Ages, and how the plague ultimately came to an end. I got an event called "Dancing Plague". The plague ended just as suddenly as it began in September when the dancing simply stopped, and everyone returned to normal life. Within hours, a swarm of peasants joined her and rarely stopped to drink or eat and reportedly kept going - even when their feet were bloody and bruised. If someone made a game for the PlayStation or Wii called ‘Dance Epidemic’ then I would almost certainly buy it. Dancing plague or dancing mania was a medieval phenomenon and mystery. The exact aetiology of the Dancing Plague (or Dancing Mania) is still unclear. The residents of the city of Strasbourg, France (then part of the Holy Roman Empire), in July 1518, was struck by a sudden and uncontrollable urge to dance, where the people even ‘danced themselves to death’! The Dancing Plague takes its name from the real-life dancing plague of 1518, where 400 people in Strasbourg danced for one month without rest, causing them to collapse or die from exhaustion. The Plague of Justinian was a pandemic that afflicted the Byzantine Empire, including its capital Constantinople, in the years 541–542 AD. The dancing plague. St. John’s Dance, known historically as St. Vitus Dance, was a social phenomenon involving a type of dance mania that gripped mainland Europe between the 14 th and 17 th centuries. What caused Strasbourg’s three-month dancing plague of 1518? The accounts come from St. Vitus, a Catholic saint who pious 16th century. It is … Around 400 people took to dancing for days without rest and, over the period of about one month, some of those affected collapsed or even died of heart attack, stroke, or … John Waller, an associate professor of the Department of History of Medicine at Michigan State University, hypothesised about the cause of the dancing plague. He kept accounts of what happened during the time this was happening but sadly we are still life with questions about what really was the cause of it all. Gallery [edit | edit source] Retrospective historical review of this public health problem reveals … The dancing plague of Strasbourg was a real event, one of at least twenty recorded incidents of mass dancing manias in mid to late Medieval Europe. One of the most well-known major outbreaks took place in Aachen, Germany, on the 24 th of June 1374, just several decades after the Black Death swept across Europe. 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