00:00It was a beautiful day of summer, in June 1518, in the beautiful city of Strasbourg.
00:06This mystery story started with a woman named Troféa.
00:10According to the legend, at a moment, she would be out of the street and dance.
00:15The problem is that she didn't seem to take the most pleasure.
00:19There was even no music to accompany her.
00:21It seemed more like a series of torsions and of the uncontrollable returns.
00:25What has been able to push this woman to behave so strange?
00:29But more important, why so many people have begun to do the same in the days and weeks that followed?
00:36The small group of people who were first gathered around Troféa
00:40continued to dance outside, despite an accablant heat.
00:44They agitated frenetically their arms and balanced their bodies,
00:48even when their clothes started to be sore.
00:51They danced all night and until the next day.
00:55Malgré l'épuisement, la faim, la soif et les pieds endoloris,
00:59they continued to dance for days without stopping.
01:03During the time, more and more of badaw were joined to dance.
01:07At its paroxysm, we estimated that hundreds of thousands of people would take a part,
01:11all of which they were in the same way.
01:14So clear, this was not a rave party like we saw in our days.
01:18The people seemed to move against their gré.
01:21The dance continued even when some began to fall in front of the spectators horrified.
01:27The authorities were well forced to intervene, but they were well unable to explain why this strange phenomenon
01:32was produced in the first place.
01:34At this day, we have not always had the nature of this mysterious event,
01:39which was extended to about three months in total.
01:42We can now consider the effects.
01:44At first, even the doctors of the time had not the smallest idea of what was going on.
01:49Most of them were stupéfaits and could explain something they called the sand trop chaud,
01:55and which apparently a bit of a fever.
01:58It could have been the ancestor of the famous fever of the disco.
02:02Not really.
02:02Today, with all the information and technologies at our disposal,
02:07this does not have any sense.
02:09The only fever does not make people dance dance.
02:12The scientists and local authorities thought that the best and unique way to heal this behavior
02:18was to let people dance dance until this fever, or rather this irrespective desire,
02:23simply to leave themselves.
02:25The villagers have even created a scene and made a professional dancers,
02:29as well as musicians, to cheer the atmosphere.
02:32The strange episode finally concluded in September,
02:35when dancers were invited to the summit of a mountain to pray to pray
02:39in the hope of getting a kind of healing divine.
02:41Curiously, the similar events were happening in Switzerland,
02:45elsewhere in Germany, as well as in the States.
02:48And this before this particular incident.
02:50But no one has been so serious that the one of 1518.
02:55years later, the philosopher and medicine Paracels has written a series of books
03:00on this mania dance dance,
03:01making suite to the incident of Strasbourg.
03:04He was renowned for his knowledge in alchemy,
03:07and did not believe that this behavior had been caused by the malchance,
03:10or by natural forces,
03:12but rather by something in the body of people
03:15who gave them a sensation of biting.
03:17It is what affected their judgment and caused their spasms.
03:21He essentially declared that these people suffer
03:23not only an extreme case of chatouille.
03:25Some researchers have affirmed over time that this corémanie was caused by a certain type of nourishment,
03:32which would make people sick.
03:33We even suggested that the mania would have been a champignon that we call
03:38the ergot of seigle.
03:39It puts on the cereals that we used to then for the bread and contains an alcaloide
03:45which can seriously affect the judgment.
03:48Others doubt that this is possible,
03:50because people cannot dance days after just because they were exposed to this champignon.
03:56In addition, all the world would not react to the same way.
03:59There are incontrolable epidemics in different regions,
04:03with climates and different cultures.
04:06So it is very improbable that this champignon had been present
04:09in each of these places.
04:11Another theory comes from John Waller,
04:13a historian of American medicine,
04:15who thought that the dance phenomenon of 1518
04:18could have been caused by something much simpler.
04:22These people were at the bottom of the neck.
04:23He pointed out that this type of behavior could be manifested
04:26when people were committed to a strong pressure.
04:29That's why they started to hallucinate
04:32and behave in a few common ways.
04:34If we were in terms of information of the time, in all franchise,
04:39the Strasbourgeois had to be inquiet.
04:41If the time was not clear, their crops were destroyed.
04:45So that the food was often made rare.
04:48Waller also suggested that our ancestors were quite superstitious.
04:51The inhabitants of Strasbourg would have thought that if they were not homage to the cieux,
04:56they would be forced to dance to pay their transgressions.
04:59Maybe we never know the real reason why these people
05:02are suddenly made to dance this day-to-day
05:05But this doesn't mean that this story has not influenced the literature.
05:10The manie dance has had an effect captivating on those who have been assisted.
05:15This idea is also reprise in the famous contes of the fées,
05:18Les Chaussures Rouges,
05:19that we do to the author Danois Hans Christian Andersen.
05:23The story mentions a magic pair of red shoes
05:26which force quiconque les porte à danser jusqu'à l'épuisement.
05:29Of course, this story had another purpose.
05:33To put it on guard against vanity.
05:35But it also suggests that the dance can take a difficult turn if it is practiced in a excessive way.
05:41If you ever find yourself on a path full of energy dancers,
05:45it can be difficult to remain immobile.
05:48You want to be able to jump from one foot to the other,
05:50because of the social pressure,
05:52if not because of the music.
05:54Don't forget that dance can mean other things.
05:57The music and the chorégraphy are important elements of the everyday life
06:01in many cultures around the world.
06:04And there is no place on earth where dance is more valued than in Africa.
06:08For some local sculptures, these dances tell stories
06:12and are not just a simple distraction.
06:15They describe myths and legends,
06:17illustrate emotions and s'y end in the community.
06:20Several people of Africa are famous for their dance,
06:23like the one of the Maasai of Tanzania and Kenya,
06:26and the Zulu people of Africa South.
06:28In many African villages,
06:30we dance at the rhythm of the drums,
06:32and the whole community is found in singing.
06:35A particularity of some African cultures is the polycentric dance.
06:39This name means that different parts of the body of the dancer
06:42move on different rhythms of the music.
06:46This makes this dance unique, but difficult to understand.
06:49And it can take very long time to control it.
06:52Even if different groups in Africa
06:54practice the same dance,
06:55there are many differences between them.
06:58Another type of dance brings us to a radically different continent.
07:01It is the famous Akka,
07:03and it is a traditional Maori dance of New Zealand.
07:06It is executed by the men, women and children
07:09as a form of expression,
07:11of challenge or celebration.
07:13It can be accompanied by chanting and cries,
07:16and it can be executed in a static way,
07:19or in advance a little bit.
07:20The Maori practice during major events,
07:23such as the marriage.
07:24It is also known as a way to show the strength,
07:27the courage and unity
07:28can be used to intimidate the opponent.
07:31It is so important in their eyes,
07:33that it is become a ritual before match
07:35for the national rugby team of New Zealand,
07:37the redouted All Blacks,
07:39without talking about the fact
07:40that it is even protected by its own law.
07:43Asian traditions have also chorégraphies
07:45that are their own.
07:46The Kabuki, for example,
07:48is a form of Japanese theater
07:49which includes both dance and dramatic expression.
07:53It appeared in Kyoto in the 17th century,
07:55and of our days,
07:57it only puts in scene
07:57that masculine actors
07:58who interpret various characters
08:00in a fun spectacle
08:01and fun of truffes of black coquines.
08:04During the time,
08:05the Kabuki is becoming a performance
08:06in five acts,
08:07which could traiter
08:08the Japanese history,
08:09the family drama,
08:10or simply dance.
08:12The actors execute
08:13movements codified,
08:14s'enduisant the face
08:15of white paint
08:16and the paint of white
08:18to highlight their emotions.
08:19The theater has also
08:21special effects,
08:23like hidden doors
08:23and a pivot scene
08:25to make the spectacle
08:27more exciting
08:28and divert the public
08:29throughout a day.
08:30.
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