The Dancing Plague of 1518

Speaking for most teens, I am very interested in quirky things that have happened throughout human history. There are many of these things that have happened, and one of them is the Dancing Plague, which occurred in a city in the Holy Roman Empire between July and September of 1518.

Here's What Happened: 

On July 14, 1518, there was a woman named Frau Troffea, and she was walking in the streets outside of her house one day and just started dancing. For some reason, she didn't stop. She went for hours and other people started to join in. Overall, about 400 people were dancing their hearts out. Some of them danced so hard that after a while, around 15 people were dying each day from strokes or heart attacks. After a few months, the dancing began to die out and life in the city began to return to normal.

There isn’t solid evidence that the Dancing Plague really happened. Some speculate that the event was caused by food poisoning or a mass movement disorder. But there are several documents that report a lot of people dancing together in the street. I personally think there was a lot of dancing that might have gotten out of hand, but it is hard to believe people actually died because they danced too much and didn't stop at all. So what do you think about the Dancing Plague of 1518? Do you think this event really happened or just a made up tale?

- Parker G., 9th Grade