Strangeness abounds, or at least dances.

We at the crazy enjoy mysteries, especially mysteries of a strange nature. For example we have all heard of one dance craze or another (The Macarena, the twist, the alligator, the displaced hip, Ok we made that last one up.) But in Strasbourg France, in July of 1518 a different sort of dance craze broke out. A woman named Frau Troffea stepped outside of her home and began to dance in the streets. She continued dancing for the rest of the day until she collapsed in exhaustion. When she awakened she stood and began dancing again. She simply could not stop. By the end of August over 400 people were caught up in the dance, most expressing fear and horror when it struck them. How many people died due to exhaustion is unknown. The dancer would dance for a period of four days for up to a week and them simply stop. City officials unsure of what to do to help the afflicted came up with the wonderful idea of opening two guildhalls and a grain market, and setting up musicians to accompany the dancers (which goes to show you that a politician is a politician even in 14th century Europe.) The dance "craze" sprang up seven more times in the villages surrounding Strasbourg over the next hundred years or so. And a major outbreak occurred in Madagascar in the 1840's. At that time medical reports described, "people dancing wildly, in a state of trance, convinced they were possessed by spirits." So what caused the people of Strasbourg and then Madagascar to dance uncontrollably until they dropped, the only explanation that seems to fit is "Mass psychogenic illness," which psychologists believe were a result of pressure due to social or cultural upheavals of the time. This is also the label they put on the 1962 laughter epidemic in Tanganyika which started as a joke told at a boarding school, which resulted in the school being closed down as the laughter spread to the surrounding village. The epidemic lasted for months but eventually died out. That's about all for now, pardon us as we have a strong desire to boogaloo.
Ciao for now.
Must have been one heck of a joke.