☕️ Alice’s Mad Tea Party Presents:
🫖 Alice Spills the Tea: The Dancing Plague of 1518: When an Entire Town Forgot How to Sit Down
Mass hysteria? Or something else?
Alice adjusts her hat, pours herself another cup of tea, and smirks.
“Alright, my darlings, gather ‘round. I have a story that will make you question everything you thought you knew about history. You see, in the summer of 1518, the good people of Strasbourg, France, woke up, stretched their limbs, and did the only logical thing… they started dancing.
And they did not stop.
Not for food. Not for water. Not even for the grim specter of death itself.
Now, I know what you’re thinking. ‘Alice, I’ve had a few wild nights myself, but surely, this was just a bit of harmless fun.’
Oh, my dear, naive creatures. Let me take you deeper down the rabbit hole.”
It Started With One Woman…
Her name was Frau Troffea. One morning, she decided to bust a move in the middle of the street. No music. No partner. Just her, her flailing limbs, and a town full of people staring like she’d lost her damn mind.
At first, the villagers just… watched. Some laughed, some gasped, and the local baker probably muttered something about wheat poisoning (we’ll get to that).
But then… people joined in.
One by one, the citizens of Strasbourg fell under the same spell. Within days, dozens were dancing. Within weeks? Hundreds.
They collapsed from exhaustion. They sweated through their clothes. Some even danced themselves to death.
And here’s the best part: no one could explain why.
The Theories (A.K.A. Mortal Nonsense)
Now, here’s where the Outerworld historians try to ruin the fun with their “logical” explanations. Let’s sip our tea and laugh at them together, shall we?
💀 Theory #1: Mass Hysteria
- Translation: “Oh, they were just stressed and had a little… mental breakdown.”
- My response? Babe, stress makes you drink wine and cry in the bathtub. It does not make you twerk until you die.
🍞 Theory #2: Ergot Poisoning (a.k.a. the “Bad Bread” Excuse)
- Apparently, moldy rye bread can cause hallucinations and convulsions.
- But… explain why they all danced in perfect synchronization without a single reported case of, I don’t know, foaming at the mouth or seeing pink elephants?
🕺 Theory #3: A Religious Curse or Divine Punishment
- The Church suggested that Saint Vitus cursed the town for its sins.
- Because, you know, when deities get mad, their go-to punishment is… a mandatory Zumba class?
The Real Explanation (That No One Wants to Admit)
Here’s where I step in with my superior knowledge of things beyond the mortal veil.
My dear guests, what if I told you this was no accident?
What if I told you… something was playing with them?
A trickster spirit? A rogue enchantment? A bored fae creature who decided that turning an entire town into a cursed dance floor was peak comedy?
Because let’s be honest, this is the kind of drama only magic can produce.
Imagine a mischievous spirit, lounging on a rooftop, cackling as mortals pirouette to their doom. Maybe a bored witch-in-training whispered an incantation that got out of hand. Or perhaps, just perhaps, something ancient was lurking beneath Strasbourg, its energy leaking into the town, compelling them to move, move, move until their bodies gave out.
Because here’s what no one wants to talk about:
- The plague stopped as suddenly as it started.
- No known “cure” was ever found.
- And it never happened again.
Almost like… someone got bored and snapped their fingers.
Final Thoughts, darlings?
Alice leans back in her chair, stirring her tea thoughtfully.
“So, what do we think? Mortals panicked and danced themselves into oblivion… or something supernatural pulled the strings?”
She takes a sip, then grins.
“I, for one, know a magical prank when I see one. And this? Ohhh, this had trickster energy written all over it.”
She winks.
“Now, pass me that sugar, darling. We have plenty more tea to spill.”
