The Dancing Plague of 1518: When Strasbourg Danced Itself to Death

In July 1518, a woman named Frau Troffea stepped into the streets of Strasbourg, France and began dancing. She danced for hours without stopping, then days. Within a week, 34 people had joined her, unable to stop themselves from dancing. Within a month, 400 people were dancing uncontrollably through the streets, and some were dying from exhaustion, heart attacks, and strokes. No one could explain it, and no one could stop it.

The dancing wasn't joyful - witnesses described it as desperate, frantic, and terrifying. Dancers begged for help but couldn't stop moving. Their feet bled, they collapsed from exhaustion, and some died where they danced. The city council's response made everything worse: believing the afflicted needed to "dance it out" of their s ...