The Dance Plague of 1518 An outbreak of dancing mania that | Honest historian
The Dance Plague of 1518
An outbreak of dancing mania that occurred in Strasbourg in July 1518. About 400 people danced on the streets of the city for days on end without rest. During that time many of them died of heart attacks, strokes, or physical exhaustion.
Local doctors declared that the plague was a disease. Local authorities decided that one could be cured by dancing around the clock. Two dance halls and a wooden stage were opened in the city. These measures did not improve the situation and the authorities prohibited all partying in the town (gambling, prostitution, music and dancing).After a few weeks the epidemic waned. Most of the afflicted were able to regain control of their bodies.
One of the modern theories explaining what happened is food poisoning by the psychoactive products of ergot, which affects various grains. The alkaloids in ergot are chemically similar to the psychoactive substance LSD.
