You Are the Dancing Plague

Young and sweet, only from fifteen eighteeeeeen!

Who doesn't like a little ABBA tie-in?

But have you heard about the Dancing Plague of 1518? In 1518, a 'dance plague' saw citizens of French city Strasbourg reportedly dancing uncontrollably for days on end – with fatal results. It's a bizarre event that continues to fascinate those that have happened upon the story. But how did this begin? Just like a middle school dance, it takes one person dancing alone to the beat of their own heart before the rest join in. It was July, 1518, and a sweltering day at that; a woman named Lady Troffea steps into the square of Strasbourg and begins to dance. At first those around her only watch; curiosity getting the better of them as they stand and watch her dance dance dance with her hands hands hands. They watch a woman who will not, cannot, stop. She dances for nearly a week, occasionally tripping over her dancing shoes by exhaustion but largely unfazed by hunger, pain, or the need for sleep. There was no music to be heard. Where the music came from for this dance is a mystery; maybe it was internal, birds, the celestials–who knows!

Join Matt and I as we go into this not too conspiracy theory, but a little bit of a mystery.