Back in 1518 in Germany, there was this bizarre outbreak of what they called "dancing mania." Basically, folks just started dancing uncontrollably in the streets, like they couldn't stop even if they wanted to. It got so wild that it's said hundreds of people were affected, just dancing day in and day out. Some people even danced themselves to death! Crazy, right? Historians still scratch their heads over it, but it's one heck of a weird moment in history. Credit:
Haka: www.davidmolloyphotography.com from Sydney, Australia, CC BY 2.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:2017.08.19.20.07.34-Haka_(35890790073).jpg
Haka: Joanne from London, UK, CC BY-SA 2.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Haka_(5178332711).jpg
tangershon / Reddit
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Haka: www.davidmolloyphotography.com from Sydney, Australia, CC BY 2.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:2017.08.19.20.07.34-Haka_(35890790073).jpg
Haka: Joanne from London, UK, CC BY-SA 2.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Haka_(5178332711).jpg
tangershon / Reddit
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FunTranscript
00:00 It was a fine summer day in July 1518 in the beautiful city of Strasbourg in Alsace, part
00:07 of modern-day France.
00:09 Our mysterious story began with a woman named Trofia.
00:12 As the tale goes, at one point, out of the blue, she went out into the street and began
00:18 to dance.
00:19 The problem was, it didn't seem like she enjoyed dancing.
00:23 She didn't even have any music playing in the background.
00:26 It looked more like a series of uncontrolled twists and turns.
00:30 What made this woman behave in such a strange way?
00:33 More so, why did so many people follow in her footsteps in the following days and weeks?
00:39 That small group of people that initially gathered around Trofia kept on dancing outdoors
00:45 despite the scorching heat.
00:46 They moved their arms wildly and swayed their bodies even as their clothes began to get
00:52 drenched with sweat.
00:54 They danced through the night and into the next day.
00:57 Despite their exhaustion, hunger, thirst, and pain in their feet, they continued to
01:02 dance for days without stopping.
01:05 As time passed, more and more people joined in the dance.
01:09 At one point, it was estimated that hundreds of people were participating, all moving in
01:13 the same frenzied manner.
01:16 Just so we're clear, this was not a typical club rave we're used to these days.
01:21 People looked like they were moving without their consent.
01:24 The dancing continued even as some of the people started collapsing in front of the
01:27 horrified onlookers.
01:30 Authorities had to step in at one point, surely, but they couldn't explain why this bizarre
01:34 dancing phenomenon occurred in the first place.
01:37 To this day, we've yet to discover the nature of this mysterious event, which lasted about
01:43 3 months in total.
01:45 We can't look at the facts, though.
01:47 For starters, even the local physicians back then didn't really have any idea what was
01:52 going on.
01:54 Most of them were stumped and could only explain it as the result of a thing they called "hot
01:59 blood."
02:00 They thought it was somewhat similar to a fever.
02:02 Ooh, could this have been the ancestor of disco fever?
02:06 Hardly.
02:07 These days, with all the available technology and information, it doesn't make any sense
02:12 at all.
02:13 Fever alone doesn't make people dance.
02:16 Physicians and local authorities thought that the best and only way to cure this behavior
02:20 was for the individuals to dance until this fever, this urge, simply disappeared.
02:26 Locals even set up a stage and brought professional dancers, along with a band, to provide music.
02:32 The strange episode finally ended in September, when the dancers were taken to a mountaintop
02:37 in hopes they could request help from some sort of higher spirits that could end their
02:42 misery.
02:43 Weirdly enough, similar events took place in Switzerland, Germany, and the Netherlands
02:48 even before this event, but none were as large or as serious as the one in 1518.
02:55 Years after the incident, Paracelus, a physician, wrote a series of books on this dancing condition
03:01 after the incident in Strasbourg.
03:03 He was pretty famous for his work on using chemistry in medicine.
03:07 He believed that this behavior was not caused by bad luck or unnatural forces, but instead
03:13 by something in people's bodies that gave them a ticklish feeling.
03:17 This is what affected their judgment and caused the movements.
03:20 He basically said that the people had an extreme case of tickles.
03:25 Some scientists have claimed over the years that the dancing frenzy was caused by some
03:29 sort of food people may have eaten, which could've made them sick.
03:34 Some of them have even suggested that the culprit might've been a fungus called ergot.
03:38 This fungus grows on grains used for baking bread and has a chemical that can seriously
03:43 affect people's judgment.
03:45 Others don't believe this to be possible because people can't dance for days just
03:50 because of their exposure to the fungus.
03:52 Also, not everyone would've reacted the same way.
03:56 The outbreaks of uncontrollable dancing happened in areas with different climates and crops
04:01 too.
04:02 It's highly unlikely that this fungus would've been present in all these locations.
04:07 Another theory was suggested by John Waller, an American medical historian, who thought
04:12 the dancing phenomenon of 1518 was caused by something much simpler – people being
04:17 very stressed out.
04:19 He pointed out that these types of behavior could happen when people were under a lot
04:24 of pressure.
04:25 As a result, they start to believe in scary things and behave in unusual ways.
04:30 If we look at the information we have from back in the day, in all fairness, people in
04:35 Strasbourg had a lot to worry about.
04:38 If the weather was bad, their crops were affected, so food was often scarce.
04:43 Waller also suggested that people were pretty superstitious too.
04:47 The locals in Strasbourg believed that if they didn't make a certain higher spirit
04:51 happy, they would be forced to dance to pay for their disobedience.
04:56 Perhaps we'll never know the true reason why people suddenly started dancing that day
05:01 under the hot summer sun.
05:03 It doesn't mean the story hasn't influenced literature.
05:07 People dancing had a captivating effect on those who saw it.
05:11 This idea is also shown in the famous fairy tale called "The Red Shoes," written by
05:16 Danish author Hans Christian Andersen.
05:19 The story mentions a special pair of red shoes that forced the wearer to dance until they
05:24 simply couldn't handle it anymore.
05:26 Sure, this story had another meaning altogether – to warn against vanity.
05:31 But it also suggests that dancing may become problematic if done excessively.
05:37 Should you ever find yourself on a dance floor filled with energetic people, it might be
05:41 hard to stand still.
05:43 You'll feel inclined to at least bounce from one foot to another from peer pressure,
05:48 if not because of the music.
05:50 Now let's not forget though, dancing can mean so much more.
05:54 Music and dances are important parts of everyday life in many cultures around the world.
05:59 And there is no other place on Earth where dancing is more valued than in Africa.
06:04 In these cultures, dances tell stories and are not just for fun.
06:08 They talk about history, show emotions, and help bring people together.
06:13 A lot of African tribes are famous for their dances, like the Maasai tribe of Tanzania
06:18 and Kenya and the Zulu tribe of South Africa.
06:21 In most African villages, everyone dances to the beat of drums, and the whole community
06:26 joins in by singing and playing along.
06:30 What's special about African culture is its polycentric dance.
06:34 That means that different parts of a dancer's body move to different beats in the music.
06:39 This makes it unique but complicated to learn and can take a long time to master.
06:44 Even though different groups of people in Africa do this type of dance, there are still
06:49 many differences between them.
06:51 Another special type of dance takes us to a different continent altogether.
06:54 It's called the Haka, and it is a traditional Maori dance from New Zealand.
06:59 It's performed by men, women, and children as a form of expression, challenge, or celebration.
07:05 It can be accompanied by chanting and shouting, and it can be performed standing still or
07:10 moving forward.
07:12 Locals often perform it at significant events, such as weddings.
07:16 It's known as a way to show strength, bravery, and unity, and can be used to intimidate opponents.
07:22 It's so important to locals that it's become a pre-game ritual for the New Zealand
07:27 national rugby team, the All Blacks.
07:30 Not to mention, it's even protected by law.
07:33 Asian traditions have special types of movements too.
07:36 Kabuki, for instance, is a type of Japanese theater that includes both dancing and acting.
07:43 It started in Kyoto in the 1600s, and these days, it features only male actors.
07:49 They play various characters in funny shows with naughty jokes.
07:53 Over time, Kabuki became a five-part performance that could be about Japanese history, family
07:59 drama, or dance.
08:01 The actors use special movements and faces painted with white powder and bright colors
08:05 to show their emotions.
08:07 The theater also has special effects, like hidden doors and a spinning stage, to make
08:12 the show more exciting and keep the audience entertained for a whole day.
08:20 That's it for today!
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