Dancing Mania: What really caused the uncontrollable urge to dance?
Are you someone who likes to sway to any kind of music at any given place or time? Well, the options for you to try out are endless starting from Western dances such as salsa and cha cha, to Indian forms such as Kathak and Odissi, isn’t it? But what if you start dancing but just can’t stop? It may seem like fun and exciting, but in reality, it’s far from it. Possibly, it’s more like a disease and has affected thousands of people in the past. The condition is known as dancing mania. In fact, the famous tale of the Pied Piper of Hamelin is believed to have originated from this disease. But that’s a story for another day! Today, let us give you a low-down on this disease that was very much existent till the mid-17th century.
What is dancing mania?
Today, the term dancing mania is quite popular. However, it has a variety of names starting from choreomania to tarantism. Dancing mania refers to the extreme and uncontrollable urge to dance (involuntarily!) and is said to be contagious in nature. Reports suggest that at one point, it had affected an entire town! Interestingly, the first historical record of dancing mania dates back to 1021 AD in the German town called Kölbigk. In fact, the largest known outbreak of dancing mania too happened at Aachen in Germany, back in the year 1374. However, over the next few centuries, it was very much prevalent across the entire Europe. People were reported to dance for hours, even days at a stretch, beyond the point of exhaustion, and even in the absence of any music, until they collapsed, one after another.
Culprits behind dancing mania
The real cause behind dancing mania still remains unknown. In fact, whether it was a social phenomenon or a real illness is also a mystery left to be solved. Nonetheless, throughout history, people have cited many causes starting with spiritual forces to insect bites or even microorganisms.
The spiritual causes
In the Middle Ages, people essentially believed that dancing mania was a result of spiritual forces. While church leaders often suggested that the dancers were possessed by evil, there were others who concluded that the affected ones were cursed by saints, especially St. John and St. Vitus. Maybe that’s why, dancing mania is also referred to as St. John’s Dance and St. Vitus’ Dance.
Tarantula bites
Dancing mania in Italy is often referred to as tarantism and there’s a good reason behind this. Turns out, the dance madness was prevalent in southern Italy from 15th to 17th century. And Italians were almost certain that it was caused by spider bites, more specifically by the bites of tarantula. What’s more surprising is that, they believed that the never-ending urge to dance was the body’s way to heal from the poison.
A fungus named ergot
You may find it interesting to note that modern-day scientists have disregarded the above-mentioned reasons and have provided a better explanation for dancing mania. It’s a fungus, by the name of ergot. Bread is a staple all throughout Europe, and this fungus typically grew on rye, especially during floods or dry periods. So, people could have easily consumed it while having bread. While the toxin wasn’t fatal, it caused hallucinations and convulsions in humans, often pushing them to limitless dancing.
Neurological factors
Experts today also believe that the dancing mania could have been caused due to extreme stress of living in uncertain times. For instance, in the Middle Ages, people had to deal with Black Death outbreaks as well as regular famines. Furthermore, there was also a certain level of social and religious pressure. So, dancing mania could have easily generated out of mental breakdown and mass hysteria.