Английская Википедия:Dancing mania

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Файл:Die Wallfahrt der Fallsuechtigen nach Meulebeeck.jpg
Dancing mania on a pilgrimage to the church at Sint-Jans-Molenbeek, a 1642 engraving by Hendrick Hondius after a 1564 drawing by Pieter Brueghel the Elder

Dancing mania (also known as dancing plague, choreomania, St. John's Dance, tarantism and St. Vitus' Dance) was a social phenomenon that occurred primarily in mainland Europe between the 14th and 17th centuries. It involved groups of people dancing erratically, sometimes thousands at a time. The mania affected adults and children who danced until they collapsed from exhaustion and injuries, and sometimes died. One of the first major outbreaks was in Aachen, in the Holy Roman Empire (within modern-day Germany), in 1374, and it quickly spread throughout Europe; one particularly notable outbreak occurred in Strasbourg in 1518 in Alsace, also in the Holy Roman Empire (now in modern-day France).

Affecting thousands of people across several centuries, dancing mania was not an isolated event, and was well documented in contemporary reports. It was nevertheless poorly understood, and remedies were based on guesswork. Often musicians accompanied dancers, due to a belief that music would treat the mania, but this tactic sometimes backfired by encouraging more to join in. There is no consensus among modern-day scholars as to the cause of dancing mania.[1]

The several theories proposed range from religious cults being behind the processions to people dancing to relieve themselves of stress and put the poverty of the period out of their minds. It is speculated to have been a mass psychogenic illness, in which physical symptoms with no known physical cause are observed to affect a group of people, as a form of social influence.[1]

Definition

"Dancing mania" is derived from the term "choreomania", from the Greek choros (dance) and mania (madness),[2]Шаблон:Rp[3] and is also known as "dancing plague".[4]Шаблон:Rp The term was coined by Paracelsus,[4]Шаблон:Rp and the condition was initially considered a curse sent by a saint,[5] usually St. John the Baptist[6]Шаблон:Rp or St. Vitus, and was therefore known as "St. Vitus' Dance" or "St. John's Dance". Victims of dancing mania often ended their processions at places dedicated to that saint,[2]Шаблон:Rp who was prayed to in an effort to end the dancing;[4]Шаблон:Rp incidents often broke out around the time of the feast of St. Vitus.[7]Шаблон:Rp

St. Vitus' Dance was diagnosed, in the 17th century, as Sydenham chorea.[8] Dancing mania has also been known as epidemic chorea[4]Шаблон:Rp and epidemic dancing.[5] A disease of the nervous system, chorea is characterized by symptoms resembling those of dancing mania,[2]Шаблон:Rp which has also rather unconvincingly been considered a form of epilepsy.[6]Шаблон:Rp

Other scientists have described dancing mania as a "collective mental disorder", "collective hysterical disorder" and "mass madness".[2]Шаблон:Rp

Outbreaks

The earliest-known outbreak of dancing mania occurred in the 7th century,[9] and it reappeared many times across Europe until about the 17th century, when it stopped abruptly.[2]Шаблон:Rp One of the earliest-known incidents occurred sometime in the 1020s in Bernburg, where 18 peasants began singing and dancing around a church, disturbing a Christmas Eve service.[7]Шаблон:Rp

Further outbreaks occurred during the 13th century, including one in 1237 in which a large group of children travelled from Erfurt to Arnstadt (about Шаблон:Cvt), jumping and dancing all the way,[7]Шаблон:Rp in marked similarity to the legend of the Pied Piper of Hamelin, a legend that originated at around the same time.[9] Another incident, in 1278, involved about 200 people dancing on a bridge over the River Meuse resulting in its collapse. Many of the survivors were restored to full health at a nearby chapel dedicated to St. Vitus.[2]Шаблон:Rp The first major outbreak of the mania occurred between 1373 and 1374, with incidents reported in England, Germany and the Netherlands.[6]Шаблон:Rp

On 24 June 1374, one of the biggest outbreaks began in Aachen,[4]Шаблон:Rp before spreading to other places such as Cologne, Flanders, Franconia, Hainaut, Metz, Strasbourg, Tongeren, Utrecht,[6]Шаблон:Rp and regions and countries such as Italy and Luxembourg. Further episodes occurred in 1375 and 1376, with incidents in France, Germany, and the Netherlands,[2]Шаблон:Rp and in 1381, there was an outbreak in Augsburg.[6]Шаблон:Rp Further incidents occurred in 1418 in Strasbourg, where people fasted for days and the outbreak was possibly caused by exhaustion.[2]Шаблон:Rp In another outbreak, in 1428 in Schaffhausen, a monk danced to death and, in the same year, a group of women in Zürich were reportedly in a dancing frenzy.

Another of the most extensive outbreaks occurred in July 1518, in Strasbourg (see Dancing plague of 1518), where a woman began dancing in the street, and between 50 and 400 people joined her.[6]Шаблон:Rp Further incidents occurred during the 16th century when the mania was at its peak: in 1536 in Basel, involving a group of children; and in 1551 in Anhalt, involving just one man.[6]Шаблон:Rp In the 17th century, incidents of recurrent dancing were recorded by professor of medicine Gregor Horst, who noted:

Шаблон:Quote

Dancing mania appears to have completely died out by the mid-17th century.[6]Шаблон:Rp According to John Waller, although numerous incidents were recorded, the best documented cases are the outbreaks of 1374 and 1518, for which there is abundant contemporary evidence.[5]

Characteristics

The outbreaks of dancing mania varied, and several characteristics of it have been recorded. Generally occurring in times of hardship,[2]Шаблон:Rp up to tens of thousands of people would appear to dance for hours,[2]Шаблон:Rp[10] days, weeks, and even months.[2]Шаблон:Rp[5]

Women have often been portrayed in modern literature as the usual participants in dancing mania, although contemporary sources suggest otherwise.[2]Шаблон:Rp Whether the dancing was spontaneous, or an organized event, is also debated.[2]Шаблон:Rp What is certain, however, is that dancers seemed to be in a state of unconsciousness[7]Шаблон:Rp and unable to control themselves.[2]Шаблон:Rp

In his research into social phenomena, author Robert Bartholomew notes that contemporary sources record that participants often did not reside where the dancing took place. Such people would travel from place to place, and others would join them along the way. With them they brought customs and behaviour that were strange to the local people.[2]Шаблон:Rp Bartholomew describes how dancers wore "strange, colorful attire" and "held wooden sticks".[2]Шаблон:Rp

Robert Marks, in his study of hypnotism, notes that some decorated their hair with garlands.[7]Шаблон:Rp However, not all outbreaks involved foreigners, and not all were particularly calm. Bartholomew notes that some "paraded around naked"[2]Шаблон:Rp and made "obscene gestures".[2]Шаблон:Rp Some even had sexual intercourse.[2]Шаблон:Rp Others acted like animals,[2]Шаблон:Rp and jumped,[6]Шаблон:Rp hopped and leaped about.[6]Шаблон:Rp

They hardly stopped,[10] and some danced until they broke their ribs and subsequently died.[6]Шаблон:Rp Throughout, dancers screamed, laughed, or cried,[2]Шаблон:Rp and some sang.[11]Шаблон:Rp Bartholomew also notes that observers of dancing mania were sometimes treated violently if they refused to join in.[2]Шаблон:Rp Participants demonstrated odd reactions to the color red; in A History of Madness in Sixteenth-Century Germany, Midelfort notes they "could not perceive the color red at all",[6]Шаблон:Rp and Bartholomew reports "it was said that dancers could not stand... the color red, often becoming violent on seeing [it]".

Bartholomew also notes that dancers "could not stand pointed shoes", and that dancers enjoyed their feet being hit.[2]Шаблон:Rp Throughout, those affected by dancing mania suffered from a variety of ailments, including chest pains, convulsions, hallucinations, hyperventilation,[2]Шаблон:Rp epileptic fits,[4]Шаблон:Rp and visions.[12]Шаблон:Rp In the end, most simply dropped down, overwhelmed with exhaustion.[4]Шаблон:Rp Midelfort, however, describes how some ended up in a state of ecstasy.[6]Шаблон:Rp Typically, the mania was contagious but it often struck small groups, such as families and individuals.[6]Шаблон:Rp

Tarantism

Шаблон:Further In Italy, a similar phenomenon was tarantism, in which the victims were said to have been poisoned by a tarantula or scorpion. Its earliest-known outbreak was in the 13th century, and the only antidote known was to dance to particular music to separate the venom from the blood.[2]Шаблон:Rp It occurred only in the summer months. As with dancing mania, people would suddenly begin to dance, sometimes affected by a perceived bite or sting and were joined by others, who believed the venom from their own old bites was reactivated by the heat or the music.[2]Шаблон:Rp Dancers would perform a tarantella, accompanied by music which would eventually "cure" the victim, at least temporarily.[2]Шаблон:Rp

Some participated in further activities, such as tying themselves up with vines and whipping each other, pretending to sword fight, drinking large amounts of wine, and jumping into the sea. Sufferers typically had symptoms resembling those of dancing mania, such as headaches, trembling, twitching and visions.[2]Шаблон:Rp

As with dancing mania, participants apparently did not like the color black,[2]Шаблон:Rp and women were reported to be most affected.[2]Шаблон:Rp Unlike dancing mania, tarantism was confined to Italy and southern Europe. It was common until the 17th century, but ended suddenly, with only very small outbreaks in Italy until as late as 1959.[2]Шаблон:Rp

A study of the phenomenon in 1959 by religious history professor Ernesto de Martino revealed that most cases of tarantism were probably unrelated to spider bites. Many participants admitted that they had not been bitten, but believed they were infected by someone who had been, or that they had simply touched a spider. The result was mass panic, with a "cure" that allowed people to behave in ways that were, normally, prohibited at the time.[2]Шаблон:Rp Despite their differences, tarantism and dancing mania are often considered synonymous.[2]Шаблон:Rp

Reactions

Файл:Dance at Molenbeek.jpg
Music was typically played during outbreaks of dancing mania, as it was thought to remedy the problem. A painting by Pieter Brueghel the Younger, after drawings by his father

As the real cause of dancing mania was unknown, many of the treatments for it were simply hopeful guesses, although in some instances they were effective. The 1374 outbreak occurred only decades after the Black Death, and was treated in a similar fashion: dancers were isolated, and some were exorcised.[12]Шаблон:Rp People believed that the dancing was a curse brought about by St. Vitus;[10] they responded by praying[4]Шаблон:Rp and making pilgrimages to places dedicated to St. Vitus.[6]Шаблон:Rp

Prayers were also made to St. John the Baptist, who some believed also caused the dancing.[6]Шаблон:Rp Others claimed to be possessed by demons,[2]Шаблон:Rp or Satan,[10] therefore exorcisms were often performed on dancers.[11]Шаблон:Rp Bartholomew notes that music was often played while participants danced, as that was believed to be an effective remedy,[2]Шаблон:Rp and during some outbreaks musicians were even employed to play.[2]Шаблон:Rp Midelfort describes how the music encouraged others to join in, however, and thus effectively made things worse, as did the dancing places that were sometimes set up.[6]Шаблон:Rp

Theories

Numerous hypotheses have been proposed for the causes of dancing mania, and it remains unclear whether it was a real illness or a social phenomenon. One of the most prominent theories is that victims suffered from ergot poisoning, which was known as St. Anthony's fire in the Middle Ages. During floods and damp periods, ergots were able to grow and affect rye and other crops. Some historians link ergot poisoning to phenomena like the dancing plagues during the late medieval and Renaissance periods, and even the Salem Witch hysteria, as suggested by Oliver Sacks.[13] Ergotism can cause hallucinations and convulsions, but cannot account for the other strange behaviour most commonly identified with dancing mania.[2]Шаблон:Rp[4]Шаблон:Rp[6]Шаблон:Rp[10]

Other theories suggest that the symptoms were similar to encephalitis, epilepsy, and typhus, but as with ergotism, those conditions cannot account for all symptoms.[4]Шаблон:Rp

Numerous sources discuss how dancing mania, and tarantism, may have simply been the result of stress and tension caused by natural disasters around the time,[6]Шаблон:Rp such as plagues and floods.[12]Шаблон:Rp The recurring waves of the Black Death, other natural disasters, would have combined with the dawn of Reformation to make for a great deal of uncertainty and challenge for the people of Europe during this time period.[14]

Hetherington and Munro describe dancing mania as a result of "shared stress";[12]Шаблон:Rp people may have danced to relieve themselves of the stress and poverty of the day,[12]Шаблон:Rp and in so doing, attempted to become ecstatic and see visions.[15]

According to Deborah Hyde, the spontaneous spread of this phenomenon through social networks played a significant role: "It’s hard to deny that the dancing mania was marked by social contagion exacerbated by stress. Outbreaks occurred along trade routes or reoccurred in the same areas – where people had knowledge of the format, in other words. Beliefs and behaviour can travel just like pathogens."[14]

Another popular theory is that the outbreaks were all staged,[12]Шаблон:Rp and the appearance of strange behaviour was due to its unfamiliarity.[2]Шаблон:Rp Religious cults may have been acting out well-organised dances, in accordance with ancient Greek and Roman rituals.[2]Шаблон:Rp[2]Шаблон:Rp Despite being banned at the time, these rituals could be performed under the guise of uncontrollable dancing mania.[2]Шаблон:Rp Justus Hecker, a 19th-century medical writer, described it as a kind of festival, where a practice known as "the kindling of the Nodfyr" was carried out. This involved jumping through fire and smoke, in an attempt to ward off disease. Bartholomew notes how participants in this ritual would often continue to jump and leap long after the flames had gone.[2]Шаблон:Rp

It is certain that many participants of dancing mania were psychologically disturbed,[2]Шаблон:Rp but it is also likely that some took part out of fear,[10] or simply wished to copy everyone else.[6]Шаблон:Rp Sources agree that dancing mania was one of the earliest-recorded forms of mass hysteria,[2]Шаблон:Rp[12]Шаблон:Rp and describe it as a "psychic epidemic", with numerous explanations that might account for the behaviour of the dancers.[6]Шаблон:Rp It has been suggested that the outbreaks may have been due to cultural contagion triggered, in times of particular hardship, by deeply rooted popular beliefs in the region regarding angry spirits capable of inflicting a "dancing curse" to punish their victims.[5]

See also

References

Шаблон:Reflist

Further reading

External links

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  1. ↑ 1,0 1,1 Шаблон:Cite book
  2. ↑ 2,00 2,01 2,02 2,03 2,04 2,05 2,06 2,07 2,08 2,09 2,10 2,11 2,12 2,13 2,14 2,15 2,16 2,17 2,18 2,19 2,20 2,21 2,22 2,23 2,24 2,25 2,26 2,27 2,28 2,29 2,30 2,31 2,32 2,33 2,34 2,35 2,36 2,37 2,38 2,39 2,40 2,41 2,42 2,43 Шаблон:Cite book
  3. ↑ Шаблон:LSJ, Шаблон:LSJ.
  4. ↑ 4,0 4,1 4,2 4,3 4,4 4,5 4,6 4,7 4,8 4,9 Шаблон:Cite book
  5. ↑ 5,0 5,1 5,2 5,3 5,4 Шаблон:Cite journal
  6. ↑ 6,00 6,01 6,02 6,03 6,04 6,05 6,06 6,07 6,08 6,09 6,10 6,11 6,12 6,13 6,14 6,15 6,16 6,17 6,18 6,19 6,20 Шаблон:Cite book
  7. ↑ 7,0 7,1 7,2 7,3 7,4 Шаблон:Cite book
  8. ↑ Шаблон:Cite web
  9. ↑ 9,0 9,1 Шаблон:Cite journal
  10. ↑ 10,0 10,1 10,2 10,3 10,4 10,5 Шаблон:Cite journal
  11. ↑ 11,0 11,1 Шаблон:Cite book
  12. ↑ 12,0 12,1 12,2 12,3 12,4 12,5 12,6 Шаблон:Cite book
  13. ↑ Шаблон:Cite book
  14. ↑ 14,0 14,1 Шаблон:Cite web
  15. ↑ Шаблон:Cite book
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