Ep 40 Dancing Plague: Worst Dance Party Ever

This Podcast Will Kill You

Exactly Right and iHeartPodcasts

Health & Fitness, Science

4.8 • 17.7K Ratings

🗓️ 24 December 2019

⏱️ 80 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

In 1518 a strange sight could be seen all over the town of Strasbourg. Crowds of people dancing unceasingly, unable to control their movements, seemingly heedless of their blistered and bloodied feet. As the contagious dance grew, so did the body count as the frenzied dancers succumbed to exhaustion. Over 500 years later, this dancing plague leaves us with many questions, first among them being, “What in the heck?”. In this episode, we try to get to the bottom of this mysterious infectious dance by investigating several different hypotheses, which lead us down some wild roads. Tune in, put on your best dancing shoes, and drop that beat.

Transcript

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0:00.0	This is exactly right.
0:03.7	It was a week before the Holy Festival of Mary Magdalene on July 14, 1518, that Fraud
0:12.4	Trafia began her dance.
0:14.8	One can picture her in the shadows of one of Straussberg's half-timbered houses, white
0:19.2	linen cap limped with sweat and her skirt and apron swaying as she jumped awkwardly from
0:23.5	foot to foot.
0:25.5	Right pleased from her husband to desist, Fraud Trafia went on dancing into the evening
0:30.0	in front of a crowd growing all the time in size and bewilderment.
0:34.4	As the shadows of buildings and onlookers lengthened and she could barely raise her limbs, Fraud
0:39.2	Trafia collapsed into sleep.
0:41.6	The repose only lasted until she had recouped enough energy to restart her dance.
0:46.3	Early the next day, she resumed.
0:48.6	Fraud Trafia went on dancing for a third and then a fourth day.
0:52.3	At this point, the authorities intervened.
0:55.1	She danced interminably, apparently heedless of the terrible bruises, bloody sores and
0:59.8	lacerations that must have formed on her feet after so many days of near-constant movement.
1:05.1	We don't know what Fraud Trafia thought or what she said while she danced, whether she
1:09.1	screamed for help or maintained a troubled silence.
1:12.2	We can be fairly sure though that she was in genuine distress.
1:25.1	Fraud Trafia went on dancing for a third and then a fourth day.
1:55.1	So that is from the book called The Dancing Plague by John Waller and that's the subject
2:09.8	of this episode of this podcast will kill you.
	...

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