THE UNKNOWN: Dancing Plague

Perched on a cold, windswept island in the middle of San Francisco Bay, Alcatraz was designed to be inescapable. And for most of its prisoners, it was. But even after the federal penitentiary closed in 1963, something appears to have stayed behind. Guards, tourists, and park rang ...  Show more

In the spring of 1977, schoolchildren in the small Welsh village of Broad Haven saw a silver, cigar-shaped craft land just beyond their school fence. When their headmaster separated each child and asked them to draw what they’d seen, each depiction was nearly identical. What foll ...  Show more

In 1518 a strange sight could be seen all over the town of Strasbourg. Crowds of people dancing unceasingly, unable to control their movements, seemingly heedless of their blistered and bloodied feet. As the contagious dance grew, so did the body count as the frenzied dancers suc ...  Show more

In 1518, the peasants of Strasbourg, France began dancing and couldn’t stop. Because of it, 15 people were dying per day. Historians don’t know what caused it, but they all agree that it absolutely happened. Today, Bailey tells the puzzling story of a mysterious Dancing Plague th ...  Show more

Maria Tallchief was a member of the Osage nation who happened to become the first major American ballet dancer. Her story is read by Ashley Thursby, a dancer with The Louisville Ballet. The Dancing Plague of 1518 began when Frau Troffea stepped out of her home and started dancing ...  Show more

When people think of Medieval diseases, hysterical dancing is not usually what first comes to mind. Yet in 14th and 15th century Germany, dozens of ordinary people claimed to be infected by the ‘dancing plague’. What was this mysterious phenomenon? What caused it? And was it even ...  Show more