It is characterized by involuntary irregular jerky spasmodic movements of. Vituss dance was diagnosed, in the 17th century, as sydenham chorea. Dancing mania was a social phenomenon that occurred primarily in mainland europe between. While saint vitus was the patron saint of dancers, those affected with saint vitus s dance had a disease that caused their bodies to twitch or jerk. The enraged priest, recorded a local chronicler, cursed them. Margo kaminski is on her way to a dance audition for her dream role in the new broadway show, mango tango. It looks like we dont have any akas for this title yet. This new collection of essays surveys the history of dance in an innovative and wideranging fashion. When his conversions and miracles became widely known to the administrator of sicily, valerian, he had vitus brought before him, to shake his faith.
Saint vitus dance is a crossword puzzle clue that we have spotted 1 time. In 1278, 200 maniacal dancers in germany were killed or injured when. Saint vitus band simple english wikipedia, the free. Their original lineup was scott reagers vocals, dave chandler. For the mysterious historical phenomenon also known as st. Mar 09, 2014 saint vitus dance, the awardwinning 11 minute short film by marianne hettinger, is about a new york city dancers failure to get to a callback for her dream role which leads to an unexpected duet. A history johns hopkins university press, medical historian katherine foxhall writes of a disabling disease that has been documented going back thousands of years, though. There are certain reasons for believing that in many cases it is a disease of the brain. Jul 19, 2019 chorea is a medical condition and a type of movement disorder, which results in unpredictable and involuntary movements of the body without any specific pattern. Shop for vinyl, cds and more from noel burke at the discogs marketplace. Vitus dance or sydenham chorea can strike even after the infection has cleared. As to the cause of chorea nothing definite is known. The metropolitan cathedral of saints vitus, wenceslaus and adalbert czech. Get a printable copy pdf file of the complete article 194k, or click on a page image below to browse page by page.
The fourteen holy helpers are invoked as a group mainly because of the black plague which devastated europe from 46 to 49. Vitus s dance is a disorder of the nervous system that occurs following an a. These intercessions were so successful in providing cures that his reputation grew and in some parts of europe the condition even came to be called st vitus dance. Vitus dance audio cd see all formats and editions hide other formats and editions. Vitus dance or sydenham chorea is involuntary rapid and irregular movements of arms, legs, and the facial. Unreliable legend has vitus, the only son of a senator in sicily, become a christian when he was twelve. The priest, unable to perform mass because of the irreverent din from outside, ordered them to stop. A painting in cologne cathedral, more than 200 miles downstream from strasbourg, dramatises the curse. Vitus dance derives from the late middle ages, when persons with the disease attended the chapels of st. He is invoked against epilepsy, lightning, poisoning by dog or snake bite, sleeplessness, snakebite, storm, and saint vitus dance sydenhams chorea, a.
Saint vitus is the patron of prague, dogs, domestic animals, young people, dancers, coppersmiths, actors, comedians, and mummers. He was unsuccessful, but vitus with his tutor, modestus, and servant, crescentia, fled to lucania and then to rome, where he freed emperor. Stuart flexner and doris flexner are popular reference historians. Page 193 soon as the evening shades prevail, the moon takes up the wondrous tale. Sydenhams chorea definition of sydenhams chorea by. Osler tells us that it is often found in abnormally bright, activeminded children belonging to families with pronounced neurotic taint. It is closely associated with rheumatic fever following a throat infection. Both originally were ecstatic mass dances, dating from the 11th and 12th centuries. Saint vituss dance definition of saint vituss dance by. Sep 16, 2008 you have to love the last minute of this song. Saint vitus dance or sydenhams chorea is a disorder brought on by bacterial infection in the brain. Saint vitus s dance, known to medical men by the name of chorea, is a disease strongly indicative of nervous disorder. Many consider saint vitus to be an influential doom metal band which helped start the genre in the late 1970s and early 1980s, along with their contemporaries pentagram, witchfinder general, trouble and candlemass.
Vitus dance or sydenham chorea is a neurological medical condition, which usually develops in the childhood due to infection caused by group a betahemolytic streptococcus. The condition is usually latent, with the symptoms presenting up to 6. Until 1997, the cathedral was dedicated only to saint vitus, and is still commonly named only as st. Dancing mania also known as dancing plague, choreomania, dancing syndrome, st. Just click the edit page button at the bottom of the page or learn more in the akas submission guide.
Vitus s dance caused people to dance hysterically for as long as months at a time. Doris flexner, who did all the updates on this book, is also the author of the optimists guide to history. The majority of those diagnosed with saint vituss dance or chorea sancti. This was the miami vice character sonny crocketts boat on the 1980s crimedrama. In the late middle ages, worshipers in germany and latvia reportedly danced manically before saint vitus statue to celebrate his feast day, and the movements associated with chorea minor were thought to resemble those of the dancers. Editors dils and albright address the current dearth of comprehensive teaching material in the dance history field through the creation of a multifaceted, nonlinear, yet wellstructured and comprehensive survey of select moments in the development of both american and world dance. Whereas chorea is usually a symptom of serious illness, the strasbourg outbreak seems to have been something like mass hysteria, involving hundreds of people and lasting for some weeks before dying out again. This condition presents as jerky, uncoordinated movements of the face, feet, and hands, and sometimes the limbs.
This dancing developed almost into a mania, and was confused with chorea, the nervous condition later known as saint vitus dance, the saint being invoked against it. Sydenham chorea nord national organization for rare disorders. Saint vituss dance article about saint vituss dance by. Vitus s dan ce is a disorder of the nervous system that occurs following an a betahaemolytic streptococcal infection. May 03, 2020 the name saint vitus dance comes from a christian martyr who is the patron saint of dancers. Vitus dance later came to mean sydenham chorea, a disorder that. While they may not have made a real impact on history, they may make you laugh. Vitus is counted as one of the fourteen holy helpers of medieval roman catholicism. And, nightly, to the listening earth, repeats the story of her birth. The origins of dance the earliest history of human dance is a continuing mystery.
In the book, justus friedrich karl hecker imaginatively describes the spectacle of. Here are 10 funny stories from history that you never read in school books. The mysterious phenomenon of medieval europe that drove people to dance until collapse nov 12, 2017 nikola budanovic before the world was struck with beatlemaniamuch, much before, for that matter. Page 1 of tag st vitus dance st vitus dance ancient origins. Saint vitus dance article about saint vitus dance by the.
The disease is also called sydenhams chorea, chorea minor, rheumatic chorea or sydenhams. According to historian john waller, the explanation most likely concerns st. Sydenhams chorea, also known as chorea minor and historically and occasionally referred to as st vitus dance, is a disorder characterized by rapid, uncoordinated jerking movements primarily affecting the face, hands and feet. Many consider saint vitus to be an influential doom metal band which helped start the genre in the late 1970s and early 1980s, along with their contemporaries pentagram, witchfinder general, trouble and candlemass history. Thomas sydenham 16241689 was a conscientious and keen physician interested in epidemic illnesses and known as the british hippocrates. Sydenhams chorea, also known as chorea minor and historically and occasionally referred to. Saint vitus dance, award winning short film youtube. It involved groups of people dancing erratically, sometimes thousands at a time. Dance of death, also called danse macabre, medieval allegorical concept of the allconquering and equalizing power of death, expressed in the drama, poetry, music, and visual arts of western europe mainly in the late middle ages. The extraordinary story of the dancing plague of 1518 icon books.
A strange case of dancing mania struck germany six centuries. A strange case of dancing mania struck germany six. Time warp tango texas two step three tatoa taskioune tyrol tyrolienne truckin tatoa talmadge toranto tarentella toddle tamborine tamure toreador torch tanko tantoli tap tanz tarraga tarasca taskwin taxi tennessee texas tommy twist throw thumbs tickle toe tiger tin tipperary trot torras. There are some cases of development of a sore throat before the actual symptoms begin. Often, people would dance themselves to death through exhaustion, heart failure, or stroke.
Vitus dance, lethargy, and the bites of poisonous or mad. Sydenham chorea, a neurological disorder characterized by irregular and involuntary movements of muscle groups in various parts of the body that follow streptococcal infection. Between the th and 17th centuries, europe was gripped by dance mania. Dancing developed as a natural expression of united feeling and action. Saint vitus s dance is often lumped in with the dance manias, but it was not a true dance.
The condition is usually latent, with the symptoms presenting up to 6 months after the initial infection. Vituss dance is a disorder of the nervous system that occurs following an a. This aroused my curiosity id never before heard of saint vituss dance, so i decided to investigate further. Sydenhams chorea definition sydenhams chorea is an acute but selflimited movement disorder that occurs most commonly in children between the ages of 5 and 15, and occasionally in pregnant women. Saint vitus dance, the awardwinning 11 minute short film by marianne hettinger, is about a new york city dancers failure to get to a callback for her dream role which leads to. Anthonys fire, the ergotism that causes gangrene, was usually found west of the rhine river whereas st. The mysterious case of medieval dance mania ancient origins.
Below is a list of the editors and when they served. Saint vitus dance is an alternative name for the movement disorder sydenhams chorea chorea minor. Another notable epidemic broke out in the city of strasbourg in 1518. Vitus dance, is characterized by irregular and aimless contractions of different muscles, without the agency of the will, in fact often in opposition to the desire of the individual. In more modern times st vitus dance is used as another name for the movement disorder chorea. During the middle ages, the church held that the dancers had been possessed by the devil or perhaps cursed by a saint. In places where the julian calendar is used, this date. All content on this website, including dictionary, thesaurus, literature, geography, and other reference data is for informational purposes only. Jun 24, 2016 in other times and other forms the mania started to be called st. Vitus dance is a crossword puzzle clue that we have spotted 2 times. Saint vitus dance definition of saint vitus dance by. Vitus dance, was a social phenomenon involving a type of dance mania that gripped mainland europe between the 14 th and 17 th centuries. Sufferers from st vitus dance making a pilgrimage near luxembourg in. John of god would explain why the convulsive form of ergotism was known during the renaissance as st.
Vitus dance, chorea minor, infectious chorea, or rheumatic chorea, a neurological disorder characterized by irregular and involuntary movements of muscle groups in various parts of the body that follow streptococcal infection. Full text full text is available as a scanned copy of the original print version. Strictly speaking, it is a literary or pictorial representation of a procession or dance of both living and dead figures, the living arranged in order of their rank. The title comes from saint vitus 290303, the christian patron saint of dancing. What are the symptoms of saint vitus dance disease. Saint vitus dance definition of saint vitus dance by the. While all the stars that round her burn, and all the planets in their turn, confirm the tidings as they roll, and spread the truth from pole to pole. May 04, 2007 this aroused my curiosity id never before heard of saint vituss dance, so i decided to investigate further. Symptoms of saint vitus dance disease include rapid, involuntary, purposeless movements in the face, feet and hands, according to the national organization for rare disorders. Miami vice sailboat now lives in key west miami herald.
However those twitches were not the kind of dancing described in the outbreaks of dancing mania. The term saint vitus dance became popular after early epidemiologist thomas sydenham 16241689 used it in his classic description of acute chorea, st vitus dance is a sort of convulsion which attacks boys and girls from the tenth year until they have done growing. Vitus dance is an archaic name for the rare neurological disease sydenhams chorea. Now known as sydenhams chorea those who had the disease were taken to the chapel of st. Sydenhams chorea results from childhood infection with group a betahaemolytic streptococcus and is reported to occur in 2030% of people with acute rheumatic fever. He died as a martyr during the persecution of christians by coruling roman emperors diocletian and maximian in 303. This is a nervous derangement and develops largely in those of the neurotic diathesisa tendency to disease of a nervous type. Sydenham chorea, sydenhams chorea, rheumatic chorea, saint vitus dance. One of the most wellknown major outbreaks took place in aachen, germany, on the 24 th of june 74, just several decades after the black death swept across europe. Probably it may be occasioned by direct causes, that is, by causes seated in the great centers of the nervous system, or by indirect causes, which act by reflex action.
With paul cardile, frey faust, marianne hettinger, james holden. Saint vituss dance mo costandi neuroscience writer. Other symptoms include muscle weakness or emotional or behavioral problems. List of books and articles about dance history online. A diagnosis of sydenham chorea is made based upon identification of new onset choreic movements, a detailed patient history, and a thorough clinical. Some of them might be considered too raunchy for history class. But what of st valentine himself, the best known of all the epilepsy patron saints. Vitus s dance was a social phenomenon that occurred primarily in mainland europe between the 14th and 17th centuries. There are many funny events from history that get left out of school books. The disorder is named for thomas sydenham 16241689, an english doctor who. For obscure reasons, some 16th century germans believed they could obtain a years good health by dancing before a statue of saint vitus on his feast day. This very readable and satisfying book concerns an outbreak of what appeared to be chorea, or st vitus dance in 16th century strasbourg. Tarentella was a legitimate italian folk dance of lower to middle classes and has had many names such as the tarentelle, tarantule, st. Saint vitus dance definition and meaning collins english.
He is invoked against epilepsy, lightning, poisoning by dog or snake bite, sleeplessness, snakebite, storm, and saint vitus dance sydenhams chorea, a nervous disorder bentley, roeder. Vitus dance later came to mean sydenham chorea, a disorder that struck children and did cause involuntary tremors in the arms, legs and face. Vitus, a catholic saint who pious 16th century europeans believed had. Setting dance within a cultural context that is both understandable and interesting, this insightful reference captures the true art form of dance and traces the activity of dance as it existed down through the ages and all over the world. It is usually associated with acute rheumatic fever, an inflammatory disease caused by childhood. Vitus dance or sydenham chorea is found more in girls more than boys and is known to develop between the ages of 5 and 15. Listen to the audio pronunciation in the cambridge english dictionary. Saint vitus dance symptoms, causes, diagnosis, and treatment information for saint vitus dance sydenham chorea with alternative diagnoses, fulltext book chapters, misdiagnosis, research treatments, prevention, and prognosis. This page includes the following topics and synonyms.
311 1238 595 1180 1114 1118 553 167 1033 1392 1083 114 233 1437 118 1436 1449 883 1626 307 598 930 311 1543 434 1198 921 709 1308 1028 497 1298 916 1214