The Town That Danced Until They Died

In July 1518, a woman in Strasbourg stepped into the street and started dancing. She didn't stop for days. Within a month, by some accounts, hundreds of people were dancing against their will, and the city's answer was to hire musicians and build a stage. In this video we dig into the dancing plague of 1518: life in Strasbourg before it began, the curse of Saint Vitus, Frau Troffea's six days of dancing, how many people really died, the doctors' disastrous cure, the red shoes at the mountain shrine, the centuries of dancing plagues along the Rhine, the tarantella, the ergot poisoning theory, and why most historians now point to the power of fear and belief. Plus the modern outbreaks that work the same way, from a laughter epidemic that closed schools to tics spreading through social media. Would you have started dancing too? Tell me in the comments. Chapters 00:00 The woman who couldn't stop 01:27 Strasbourg, 1518 02:11 The curse of Saint Vitus 02:55 Frau Troffea 03:40 The plague spreads 04:37 Did people really die? 05:15 The worst cure in history 06:36 The shrine and the red shoes 07:49 What Paracelsus said 08:20 Dancing plagues across Europe 08:59 The tarantella 09:19 The poison theory 10:26 Mass psychogenic illness 12:33 It still happens today 13:58 So what really happened? #history #mystery #weirdhistory