German engraving of hysterical dancing in a churchyard, ca. 17th century. Note the severed arm brandished by man on the left of the circle [Wikimedia Commons]
Posted on 08/21/2018 3:29:25 AM PDT by SunkenCiv
On a hastily built stage before the busy horse market of Strasbourg, scores of people dance to pipes, drums, and horns. The July sun beats down upon them as they hop from leg to leg, spin in circles and whoop loudly. From a distance they might be carnival revellers. But closer inspection reveals a more disquieting scene. Their arms are flailing and their bodies are convulsing spasmodically. Ragged clothes and pinched faces are saturated in sweat. Their eyes are glassy, distant. Blood seeps from swollen feet into leather boots and wooden clogs. These are not revellers but “choreomaniacs”, entirely possessed by the mania of the dance.
(Excerpt) Read more at publicdomainreview.org ...
German engraving of hysterical dancing in a churchyard, ca. 17th century. Note the severed arm brandished by man on the left of the circle [Wikimedia Commons]
Moribund the Burgermeister - Peter Gabriel from his first solo album.
Sounds like a town in England - Fungus-on-the-Rye.
“Now everybody, to ze dance floor.”
Since the ergot toxin normally survives both baking and brewing, it could have easily found its way into the products of such processes. Flour and beer variably tainted by ergot could explain the episodic and inconsistent pattern of the Strassbourg dancing mania. A few tainted barrels of beer or batches of flour could easily cause an outbreak in a city even while most people were unaffected.
When ya touch my hand
An’ talk sweet talk
I got a knockin’ in my knees
And a wobble in my walk
I’m tremblin’
And I’m shakin’
A-when ya take me in your arms
To talk romance
My heart starts doin’ the St. Vitas dance
— Little Willie John
Now is the time on Sprockets when we dance.
LOL!
This inspired the movie “Footloose.”
Danse macabre?
Disco?
Ergotism? Probably not. Too coordinated, too much endurance, limited to German ethnic locales, lack of other symptoms,...
Hysteria? Maybe. Maybe hysteria following a belief in a religious superstition about a curse; “Sancti Viti-St. Vitus’ dance, St. John’s dance, tarantism”.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dancing_plague_of_1518#Theories
Various instances of mass hysteria, quite a few related to superstitions,...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mass_vision#Dancing_plague_of_1518
THIS DAY IN HISTORY, 1374: THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE ON THE STREETS OF AACHEN, GERMANY SUDDENLY SUFFER FROM THE “FORGOTTEN PLAGUE”, DANCE MANIA
https://www.todayifoundout.com/index.php/2012/06/this-day-in-history-1374-thousands-of-people-on-the-streets-of-aachen-germany-suddenly-suffer-from-the-forgotten-plague-dance-mania/
Any way we could hand out this bread in Chicago? If they were dancing maybe they would not have time to shoot each other.
Thanks! That was never a favorite, and at the time I thought it an odd choice as the album opener, but beyond all that, I didn't know about the connection to this dancin' plague -- not least because until yesterday I'm pretty sure I'd never heard of it before. :^).
Apparently ergot was suggested over the years, but the symptoms don't match up (it sez here). Ergot has also been blamed for the Salem Witch Trials -- that seems to me to have been due to the fact that human beings, for all our good qualities, can be giant a-holes.
I thought "Footloose" was inspired by the Ed Gien story.
Probably so, I think it's right down the river from Toe-in-the-Mould..
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