The Deadliest Dance in History
In 1518, a town danced itself to death. The bizarre true story of the Dancing Plague and the accidental medieval drug trip that caused it.
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In 1518, a town danced itself to death. The bizarre true story of the Dancing Plague and the accidental medieval drug trip that caused it.
Full transcript of The Deadliest Dance in History
In 1518, a lone woman stepped into a cobblestone street and started dancing. She didn’t stop for six days. Soon, thirty-four others joined her. Then a hundred. Within a month, four hundred people were thrashing in the streets of Strasbourg. This wasn’t a celebration. It was a lethal, uncontrollable compulsion. Dancers begged for mercy as their feet bled, unable to stop their own bodies. Panicked, the city council consulted doctors, who diagnosed hot blood. Their bizarre prescription? More dancing. The city actually built a massive wooden stage and hired professional musicians. They thought dancing it out would cure the afflicted. Instead, it turned the town square into a slaughterhouse. Dozens collapsed daily, dying from strokes, exhaustion, and heart attacks while the band played on. So, what actually caused the Dancing Plague? Modern science points to ergot—a toxic mold growing on damp rye bread. The entire town was accidentally consuming the chemical precursor to LSD. They weren't cursed. They were just victims of the worst, and deadliest, bad trip in history.