Dying to Dance

So my roommate is suffering from terrible headaches, a sore throat, and general fatigue--I think I've finally gotten to him--and last night he attempted to find a raindance-like ritual to cure his illness. Such a Zack thing to do! He was unsuccessful, but in the process, he discovered a fascinating Wikipedia article entitled the "Dancing Plague of 1518." It describes a disease in the Holy Roman Empire where "numerous people took to dancing for days without rest, and, over the period of about one month, some of those affected died of heart attack, stroke, or exhaustion." It turns out that this disease, known as dancing mania, was actually a recurring social phenomenon in Europe between the 14th and 17th centuries. Many scholars believe the ceaseless dancing was a means of distraction from the many stressors, such as poverty and hunger, that pervaded peasant life. 

The Middle Ages were some crazy times!