OPEN POST: Dance Party of 1518 "And they danced themselves to death"
The Dancing Plague of 1518 is a historical event that makes you question your life choices and why you can't be a fabulously fantastic Dancing Queen. It all started in Strasbourg, part of the Holy Roman Empire back then—imagine a lousy reality show set in medieval Europe. On July 14, Frau Troffea decided it was a great day for a dance-off, and she took “dancing like nobody’s watching” to whole new levels. She danced for hours, briefly pausing only to wonder if she might have made a poor life choice. Soon enough, she was joined by over 30 others who apparently decided that following a woman down the street for hours on end was the norm. By August, they had formed a rather unconventional dance crew of around 400. These dancers were a sight to behold, moving like contestants on a game show where the prize was complete exhaustion. Some folks even collapsed or experienced heart attacks, which sounds about right for a competition that nobody signed up for. Their feet were a bloody mess,