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War in Ukraine: Prepare for the Post-Modern Choreomania Outbreak

Brace yourselves — there’s no vaccine for FOMO

9 min readMar 16, 2022

Potemkin Stairs, Odesa, 1900–1914 | Public domain image (adapted by the author)

Until about a week ago, I had never heard of the “dancing plague,” a choreomania* epidemic that afflicted hundreds of Strasbourg residents in 1518.

During my military career as a peacekeeping operations manager, I’ve never witnessed anything as aberrant as this alleged “special military operation” turning Ukraine’s sovereign soil into scorched land.

The world order is under attack as the winds of war blow from the east. Now that we’ve survived another COVID pandemic wave, Europe seems primed for the next choreomania outbreak.

Since The Great Pause, you’ve been feeling overwhelmed, and life seems to be passing by while you’re on autopilot. You’re concerned about what The Great Reset might bring about on a global scale. Then, like so many others around the world, you may be experiencing the early stages of choreomania. Similarly, some world leaders may be going through the same thing, with disastrous consequences.

The dance has begun, and if we do not act now, the world will soon be unable to stop moving to the beat set by the Kremlin.

*Choreomania (dance mania; epidemic chorea). Epidemics of frenzied people dancing have occurred at various times and locations worldwide. Between the 14th and 15th centuries, this social phenomenon flourished primarily in central European countries.

I’ve read about an early outbreak of choreomania in 1347 in Germany, which quickly spread to other countries such as Italy and Luxembourg. In July 1518, a woman began uncontrollably dancing through the streets of Strasbourg. According to various sources, the woman couldn’t stop herself and danced for four days straight until she died.

While some have proposed a physiological explanation, most choreomania outbreaks are psychologically triggered. Those who have studied the phenomenon point out some peculiarities:

  • Episodes typically occur during times of crisis (e.g., after the Black Death epidemic).
  • During the episodes, the afflicted appeared to be in a state of unconsciousness, and they could dance for hours, days, or even weeks.

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Rui Alves

Written by Rui Alves

Portugal native community-builder with an MA in Languages & Cultures. Linguist, published author, musician, international book awards judge and digital ronin.

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