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Dancing mania (also known as dancing plague, choreomania, St.

Vitus' Dance) was a phenomenon which occurred primarily in mainland Europe between the 14th and 17th centuries. It involved groups of people dancing erratically, sometimes thousands at a time. The mania affected adults and children who danced until, allegedly, they collapsed from exhaustion and injuries, and sometimes died. One of the first major outbreaks was in Aachen, in the Holy Roman Empire (within modern-day Germany), in 1374, and it quickly spread throughout Europe; one particularly notable outbreak occurred in Strasbourg in 1518 in Alsace, also in the Holy Roman Empire (within modern-day France). Affecting thousands of people across several centuries, dancing mania was not an isolated event, and was well documented in contemporary reports. Often musicians accompanied dancers, due to a belief that music would treat the mania, but this tactic sometimes backfired by encouraging more to join in. There is no consensus among modern-day scholars as to the cause of dancing mania. The several theories proposed range from religious cults being behind the processions to people dancing to relieve themselves of stress and put the poverty of the period out of their minds.

"Dancing mania" is derived from the term "choreomania", from the Greek choros (dancing) and mania (madness), and is also known as "dancing plague". Victims of dancing mania often ended their processions at places dedicated to that saint, who was prayed to in an effort to end the dancing; incidents often broke out around the time of the feast of St. Dancing mania has also been known as epidemic chorea and epidemic dancing. A disease of the nervous system, chorea is characterized by symptoms resembling those of dancing mania, which has also rather unconvincingly been considered a form of epilepsy.

The earliest-known outbreak of dancing mania occurred in the 7th century. Another of the most extensive outbreaks occurred in July 1518, in Strasbourg (see Dancing plague of 1518), where a woman began dancing in the street, and between 50–400 people joined her.

The outbreaks of dancing mania varied, and several characteristics of it have been recorded. Bartholomew also notes that observers of dancing mania were sometimes treated violently if they refused to join in.

As with dancing mania, people would suddenly begin to dance, sometimes affected by a perceived bite or sting and were joined by others, who believed the venom from their own old bites was reactivated by the heat or the music. As with dancing mania, participants apparently did not like the color black, and women were reported to be most affected. Unlike dancing mania, tarantism was confined to Italy and southern Europe.

Ergotism can cause hallucinations and convulsions, but cannot account for the other strange behaviour most commonly identified with dancing mania. Numerous sources discuss how dancing mania, and tarantism, may have simply been the result of stress and tension caused by natural disasters around the time, such as plagues and floods. Hetherington and Munro describe dancing mania as a result of "shared stress"; people may have danced to relieve themselves of the stress and poverty of the day, and in so doing, attempted to become ecstatic and see visions. "It’s hard to deny that the dancing mania was marked by social contagion exacerbated by stress. Despite being banned at the time, these rituals could be performed under the guise of uncontrollable dancing mania. Sources agree that dancing mania was one of the earliest-recorded forms of mass hysteria, and describe it as a "psychic epidemic", with numerous explanations that might account for the behaviour of the dancers.

The Dancing Mania, an epidemic of the Middle Ages, an 1832 book

"Tarantism, dancing mania and demonopathy: the anthro-political aspects of 'mass psychogenic illness'". "Relicts of dancing mania: the dancing procession of Echternach".

Quick Facts

• "Dancing mania" is derived from the term "choreomania", from the Greek choros (dancing) and mania (madness), and is also known as "dancing plague".
• Affecting thousands of people across several centuries, dancing mania was not an isolated event, and was well documented in contemporary reports.
• There is no consensus among modern-day scholars as to the cause of dancing mania.
• Dancing mania has also been known as epidemic chorea and epidemic dancing.
• It involved groups of people dancing erratically, sometimes thousands at a time.

Source material: Wikipedia - "Dancing mania". Adapted and summarized for DiscoverScroll. Original contributors are credited through the linked Wikipedia article. Read original on Wikipedia. CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes were made from the original.