Was 'Safety Dance' Inspired by the Dance Plague of 1518?

September 21, 2016

Writer

A previously unknown connection between the 1500s and the 1900s may have been discovered today on The Glenn Beck Program. Rather than focus on the news of the day, Glenn brought up random moments from history like Cat Nuns and the Dance Plague of 1518.

"It killed 15 people a day. Historical documents, including physician notes, cathedral sermons, local regional chronicles, even the notes issued by the Strasbourg City Council are clear that the victims danced. It is not known why the people danced, even though they danced, some of them, to their death," Glenn read.

Ever the comparative historian, co-host Stu-Burguiere made a curious observation.

"If I'm understanding the story right, historically, this is what created the Safety Dance, which was, We can dance, We can dance, Everybody look at their hands. Why do you have to look at your hands? Because people were falling over," Stu said.

Read below or listen to the full segment for answers to these curious questions:

• Did meowing nuns have anything to do with the dance plague?

• Was it well water or LSD-like fungi that caused the deadly dancing?

• Is it safe to look at your hands while dancing?

• If your friends don't dance, are they still friends of yours?

• Is the Safety Dance video a documentary about the Dance Plague of 1518?

Listen to this segment, beginning at mark 1:26:16, from The Glenn Beck Program:

Below is a rush transcript of this segment, it might contain errors:

GLENN: But this story is good. How about this one? How about the Dancing Plague? Have you ever heard of the Dancing Plague?

JEFFY: Yes.

GLENN: Now, this is the dancing plague I believe of Prague.

PAT: Is this about disco in the '70s?

GLENN: No, it is not.

JEFFY: No, it is not.

GLENN: Sorry, this is Strasbourg, and this is the Dancing Plague of 1518. You know this?

PAT: Okay.

JEFFY: Horrible. I do. I'm familiar with this Dancing Plague.

GLENN: How many think he's lying?

The outbreak in July 1518 when a woman began to dance in the streets of Strasbourg. That lasted somewhere between four and six days. But by the end of the week --

PAT: Wow.

GLENN: -- 34 other people had joined in.

PAT: Like non-stop she danced?

GLENN: Non-stop dancing. Yes.

Thirty-four others had joined in by the end of the week. And within a month, there were 400 dancers. Most of them were female, dancing non-stop in the streets of Strasbourg.

Here's where it gets weird --

PAT: Oh, it's not yet?

JEFFY: It's not.

STU: Oh, okay.

GLENN: Suddenly, they heard meowing from -- no. People actually died from heart attacks, strokes, and dropped dead from exhaustion.

JEFFY: But the surrounding dancers kept going.

GLENN: Yes. It killed 15 people a day. Historical documents, including physician notes, cathedral sermons, local regional chronicles, even the notes issued by the Strasbourg City Council are clear that the victims danced. It is not known why the people danced, even though they danced some of them to their death.

JEFFY: Right. Yeah, they think they know what caused it now though.

PAT: Prozac? Was it Prozac in the water?

JEFFY: It was during the plague day, and actually they believed it was in the well water surrounding the town.

PAT: Yeah. And they were eating the fish.

JEFFY: Surrounding the town.

GLENN: As the Dancing Plague worsened, concerned nobles sought the advice from physicians who ruled out astrological and supernatural causes. They said this plague was of natural disease caused by hot blood. They decided not to bleed the people who were dancing.

PAT: Foreigner sang about that.

GLENN: Instead, they encouraged more dancing.

PAT: Wow.

GLENN: And they built a wooden stage for the dancers. They believed that if they would dance all day and all night, they would eventually wear themselves out and stop dancing.

JEFFY: And in which they did, they died.

GLENN: Yes.

STU: If I'm understanding the story right too, historically, this is what created The Safety Dance, which was --

GLENN: Wow, we're --

PAT: If you have any lyrics to that, I will be impressed, without looking it up.

STU: We can dance, we can dance, everybody look at their hands. Why do you have to look at your hands? Because people were falling over.

PAT: Right.

STU: You wanted to make sure your hands were always in front of you to brace an impact that would lead to death.

PAT: Okay.

STU: We can dance, we can dance.

PAT: It wasn't everybody look at your pants?

STU: See, so it was okay for people to take chances on dancing once the safety dance was there, and that's what they were trying to encourage people: We can dance.

PAT: Okay. Yeah.

STU: Everybody is taking a chance. And that is -- directly relates --

GLENN: It might have been that or ergotamine, which I guess is a product of the ergot fungi, which grows in grain.

PAT: I think it's an actual disease that caused --

GLENN: No, they think that it was some sort of fungus that was in the grain that is a relation of LSD.

PAT: Oh.

GLENN: And so they were eating the grain, and they --

PAT: Well, that would make some sense, right? That they're all hallucinating. But everybody in the village?

GLENN: Well, 400 people are doing it.

PAT: Did they all eventually die, or did some of them --

GLENN: No, some of them just stopped. Some of them just stopped. Some of them just stopped.

JEFFY: And two are still living today.

GLENN: Right.

PAT: Are they?

JEFFY: It was 1518. Yes, they all eventually died.

(laughter)

STU: Is it possible that The Safety Dance is actually about this?

GLENN: What?

JEFFY: I don't --

STU: I mean, the video was set in old-time like 1500s days.

JEFFY: Yes, it is. It is possible.

STU: And the lyrics actually seem to really fit with the story.

JEFFY: It is possible.

PAT: We can dance. We can dance.

STU: Is it possible?

GLENN: Give me the lyrics.

STU: Okay. Hold on. Let me give you this.

GLENN: That would be the greatest discovery of the day. That's an episode of The Vault right now.

By the way, The Vault premieres -- we're getting such tremendous feedback on His Story. Last night was episode two. If you haven't watched them, go binge on them at GlennBeck.com. There's two episodes out. Tesla and Edison, that are just fantastic. Huge great reviews for the people that are watching it, even people that are just so mad at me, they can't take it.

And tonight, The Vault premieres at 5 o'clock. You don't want to miss that. Another history show. Go ahead. Give me the --

STU: Okay. So we can dance if we want to. We can leave your friends behind. Again, there's people dying all over the place.

JEFFY: Yeah. Yeah.

STU: Because if your friends don't dance, and if they don't dance, well, they're no friends of mine.

So people are saying specifically to the people --

GLENN: I don't.

STU: -- people are dying, don't dance. And they're saying, you know what, you're not a friend of mine.

PAT: Right.

GLENN: I don't --

STU: I say, we could go where we want to, a place that they will never find. Again, they're having to hide this activity because of all the death.

GLENN: They're in the middle of the street.

STU: Well, I mean, but it's in a place they will never --

GLENN: They're in the middle of the street. How can they not find --

STU: Right. But it's a street other people aren't around.

JEFFY: Look, the Guys Without Hats may have taken some liberties.

GLENN: Right. Okay. Go ahead. Where does it start fitting --

STU: So far, it's pretty much identical. It's like a freaking documentary.

(laughter)

PAT: We need the greatest mind of all time.

GLENN: I will tell you, you had me excited there for a second because you were so sincere. You were like, "I think this is it."

STU: Wait. Where did this happen again?

GLENN: Strasbourg. That's -- what is that -- Austria?

PAT: Austria.

STU: I mean, this happened in Europe too.

(laughter)

STU: This is pretty clear, guys.

PAT: Is it clear?

STU: I think it's pretty clear.

GLENN: Give me some other --

STU: We can dance if --

GLENN: We got that.

STU: A lot of it is that. Let's see.

GLENN: Have anything about fungi?

STU: It does go into -- that's in --

GLENN: It goes into -- and we just had a big glass of wheat --

STU: How about this? We can dance if we want to, we've got all your life and mine. As long as we abuse it, never going to lose it.

Again, they're talking trash to these doctors that are coming out and saying that the dancing is killing people. Everything will work out right. He's advocating for this policy, which is against the common --

GLENN: When did you stop believing you had found the link? Because now -- because there was a second where you really did think, this might be it.

PAT: It's when he read past the first line. That's when he stopped.

STU: Well, the video is from that era, right?

GLENN: Right. I don't know that.

STU: You don't know the video?

GLENN: I don't know the video.

STU: The video never made sense. Look at the -- we're showing the video here on the other side of the room.

GLENN: So is that like 1600s? Fifteen hundreds?

STU: Fifteen hundreds. 1600s. I would say almost definitely. It's in the same region of the world.

GLENN: What else could it be?

STU: Well, I just -- I thought maybe you brought up a story that other people knew. But I should have known, no.

GLENN: This from the guy who just brought up the cat meow nuns.

STU: This is clearly the same story. People are clearly -- they're dancing in a safe manner in the 1500s in Europe. I mean, this is obviously the same story, guys.

(sighing).

STU: You know, deny all you want. Deny this. Deny the gay frogs. Deny the fish people. Deny the shrimp walking up to birds --

GLENN: I am the one who told you about the cat nuns.

STU: You did -- you did bring up the cat nuns, but that was to divert from the shrimpicide.

GLENN: And now, this.

STU: There's a sentence that you didn't think you would hear on radio today.

(laughter)

Featured Image: Screenshot of the music video for the Men Without Hats hit song Safety Dance.

Breaking point: Will America stand up to the mob?

Jeff J Mitchell / Staff | Getty Images

The mob rises where men of courage fall silent. The lesson from Portland, Chicago, and other blue cities is simple: Appeasing radicals doesn’t buy peace — it only rents humiliation.

Parts of America, like Portland and Chicago, now resemble occupied territory. Progressive city governments have surrendered control to street militias, leaving citizens, journalists, and even federal officers to face violent anarchists without protection.

Take Portland, where Antifa has terrorized the city for more than 100 consecutive nights. Federal officers trying to keep order face nightly assaults while local officials do nothing. Independent journalists, such as Nick Sortor, have even been arrested for documenting the chaos. Sortor and Blaze News reporter Julio Rosas later testified at the White House about Antifa’s violence — testimony that corporate media outlets buried.

Antifa is organized, funded, and emboldened.

Chicago offers the same grim picture. Federal agents have been stalked, ambushed, and denied backup from local police while under siege from mobs. Calls for help went unanswered, putting lives in danger. This is more than disorder; it is open defiance of federal authority and a violation of the Constitution’s Supremacy Clause.

A history of violence

For years, the legacy media and left-wing think tanks have portrayed Antifa as “decentralized” and “leaderless.” The opposite is true. Antifa is organized, disciplined, and well-funded. Groups like Rose City Antifa in Oregon, the Elm Fork John Brown Gun Club in Texas, and Jane’s Revenge operate as coordinated street militias. Legal fronts such as the National Lawyers Guild provide protection, while crowdfunding networks and international supporters funnel money directly to the movement.

The claim that Antifa lacks structure is a convenient myth — one that’s cost Americans dearly.

History reminds us what happens when mobs go unchecked. The French Revolution, Weimar Germany, Mao’s Red Guards — every one began with chaos on the streets. But it wasn’t random. Today’s radicals follow the same playbook: Exploit disorder, intimidate opponents, and seize moral power while the state looks away.

Dismember the dragon

The Trump administration’s decision to designate Antifa a domestic terrorist organization was long overdue. The label finally acknowledged what citizens already knew: Antifa functions as a militant enterprise, recruiting and radicalizing youth for coordinated violence nationwide.

But naming the threat isn’t enough. The movement’s financiers, organizers, and enablers must also face justice. Every dollar that funds Antifa’s destruction should be traced, seized, and exposed.

AFP Contributor / Contributor | Getty Images

This fight transcends party lines. It’s not about left versus right; it’s about civilization versus anarchy. When politicians and judges excuse or ignore mob violence, they imperil the republic itself. Americans must reject silence and cowardice while street militias operate with impunity.

Antifa is organized, funded, and emboldened. The violence in Portland and Chicago is deliberate, not spontaneous. If America fails to confront it decisively, the price won’t just be broken cities — it will be the erosion of the republic itself.

This article originally appeared on TheBlaze.com.

URGENT: Supreme Court case could redefine religious liberty

Drew Angerer / Staff | Getty Images

The state is effectively silencing professionals who dare speak truths about gender and sexuality, redefining faith-guided speech as illegal.

This week, free speech is once again on the line before the U.S. Supreme Court. At stake is whether Americans still have the right to talk about faith, morality, and truth in their private practice without the government’s permission.

The case comes out of Colorado, where lawmakers in 2019 passed a ban on what they call “conversion therapy.” The law prohibits licensed counselors from trying to change a minor’s gender identity or sexual orientation, including their behaviors or gender expression. The law specifically targets Christian counselors who serve clients attempting to overcome gender dysphoria and not fall prey to the transgender ideology.

The root of this case isn’t about therapy. It’s about erasing a worldview.

The law does include one convenient exception. Counselors are free to “assist” a person who wants to transition genders but not someone who wants to affirm their biological sex. In other words, you can help a child move in one direction — one that is in line with the state’s progressive ideology — but not the other.

Think about that for a moment. The state is saying that a counselor can’t even discuss changing behavior with a client. Isn’t that the whole point of counseling?

One‑sided freedom

Kaley Chiles, a licensed professional counselor in Colorado Springs, has been one of the victims of this blatant attack on the First Amendment. Chiles has dedicated her practice to helping clients dealing with addiction, trauma, sexuality struggles, and gender dysphoria. She’s also a Christian who serves patients seeking guidance rooted in biblical teaching.

Before 2019, she could counsel minors according to her faith. She could talk about biblical morality, identity, and the path to wholeness. When the state outlawed that speech, she stopped. She followed the law — and then she sued.

Her case, Chiles v. Salazar, is now before the Supreme Court. Justices heard oral arguments on Tuesday. The question: Is counseling a form of speech or merely a government‑regulated service?

If the court rules the wrong way, it won’t just silence therapists. It could muzzle pastors, teachers, parents — anyone who believes in truth grounded in something higher than the state.

Censored belief

I believe marriage between a man and a woman is ordained by God. I believe that family — mother, father, child — is central to His design for humanity.

I believe that men and women are created in God’s image, with divine purpose and eternal worth. Gender isn’t an accessory; it’s part of who we are.

I believe the command to “be fruitful and multiply” still stands, that the power to create life is sacred, and that it belongs within marriage between a man and a woman.

And I believe that when we abandon these principles — when we treat sex as recreation, when we dissolve families, when we forget our vows — society fractures.

Are those statements controversial now? Maybe. But if this case goes against Chiles, those statements and others could soon be illegal to say aloud in public.

Faith on trial

In Colorado today, a counselor cannot sit down with a 15‑year‑old who’s struggling with gender identity and say, “You were made in God’s image, and He does not make mistakes.” That is now considered hate speech.

That’s the “freedom” the modern left is offering — freedom to affirm, but never to question. Freedom to comply, but never to dissent. The same movement that claims to champion tolerance now demands silence from anyone who disagrees. The root of this case isn’t about therapy. It’s about erasing a worldview.

The real test

No matter what happens at the Supreme Court, we cannot stop speaking the truth. These beliefs aren’t political slogans. For me, they are the product of years of wrestling, searching, and learning through pain and grace what actually leads to peace. For us, they are the fundamental principles that lead to a flourishing life. We cannot balk at standing for truth.

Maybe that’s why God allows these moments — moments when believers are pushed to the wall. They force us to ask hard questions: What is true? What is worth standing for? What is worth dying for — and living for?

If we answer those questions honestly, we’ll find not just truth, but freedom.

The state doesn’t grant real freedom — and it certainly isn’t defined by Colorado legislators. Real freedom comes from God. And the day we forget that, the First Amendment will mean nothing at all.

This article originally appeared on TheBlaze.com.

Glenn Beck joins Megyn Kelly LIVE — One night ONLY in Fort Worth!

Get ready for sparks to fly. For the first time in years, Glenn will come face-to-face with Megyn Kelly — and this time, he’s the one in the hot seat. On October 25, 2025, at Dickies Arena in Fort Worth, Texas, Glenn joins Megyn on her “Megyn Kelly Live Tour” for a no-holds-barred conversation that promises laughs, surprises, and maybe even a few uncomfortable questions.

What will happen when two of America’s sharpest voices collide under the spotlight? Will Glenn finally reveal the major announcement he’s been teasing on the radio for weeks? You’ll have to be there to find out.

This promises to be more than just an interview — it’s a live showdown packed with wit, honesty, and the kind of energy you can only feel if you are in the room. Tickets are selling fast, so don’t miss your chance to see Glenn like you’ve never seen him before.

Get your tickets NOW at www.MegynKelly.com before they’re gone!

What our response to Israel reveals about us

JOSEPH PREZIOSO / Contributor | Getty Images

I have been honored to receive the Defender of Israel Award from Prime Minister Netanyahu.

The Jerusalem Post recently named me one of the strongest Christian voices in support of Israel.

And yet, my support is not blind loyalty. It’s not a rubber stamp for any government or policy. I support Israel because I believe it is my duty — first as a Christian, but even if I weren’t a believer, I would still support her as a man of reason, morality, and common sense.

Because faith isn’t required to understand this: Israel’s existence is not just about one nation’s survival — it is about the survival of Western civilization itself.

It is a lone beacon of shared values in the Middle East. It is a bulwark standing against radical Islam — the same evil that seeks to dismantle our own nation from within.

And my support is not rooted in politics. It is rooted in something simpler and older than politics: a people’s moral and historical right to their homeland, and their right to live in peace.

Israel has that right — and the right to defend herself against those who openly, repeatedly vow her destruction.

Let’s make it personal: if someone told me again and again that they wanted to kill me and my entire family — and then acted on that threat — would I not defend myself? Wouldn’t you? If Hamas were Canada, and we were Israel, and they did to us what Hamas has done to them, there wouldn’t be a single building left standing north of our border. That’s not a question of morality.

That’s just the truth. All people — every people — have a God-given right to protect themselves. And Israel is doing exactly that.

My support for Israel’s right to finish the fight against Hamas comes after eighty years of rejected peace offers and failed two-state solutions. Hamas has never hidden its mission — the eradication of Israel. That’s not a political disagreement.

That’s not a land dispute. That is an annihilationist ideology. And while I do not believe this is America’s war to fight, I do believe — with every fiber of my being — that it is Israel’s right, and moral duty, to defend her people.

Criticism of military tactics is fair. That’s not antisemitism. But denying Israel’s right to exist, or excusing — even celebrating — the barbarity of Hamas? That’s something far darker.

We saw it on October 7th — the face of evil itself. Women and children slaughtered. Babies burned alive. Innocent people raped and dragged through the streets. And now, to see our own fellow citizens march in defense of that evil… that is nothing short of a moral collapse.

If the chants in our streets were, “Hamas, return the hostages — Israel, stop the bombing,” we could have a conversation.

But that’s not what we hear.

What we hear is open sympathy for genocidal hatred. And that is a chasm — not just from decency, but from humanity itself. And here lies the danger: that same hatred is taking root here — in Dearborn, in London, in Paris — not as horror, but as heroism. If we are not vigilant, the enemy Israel faces today will be the enemy the free world faces tomorrow.

This isn’t about politics. It’s about truth. It’s about the courage to call evil by its name and to say “Never again” — and mean it.

And you don’t have to open a Bible to understand this. But if you do — if you are a believer — then this issue cuts even deeper. Because the question becomes: what did God promise, and does He keep His word?

He told Abraham, “I will bless those who bless you, and curse those who curse you.” He promised to make Abraham the father of many nations and to give him “the whole land of Canaan.” And though Abraham had other sons, God reaffirmed that promise through Isaac. And then again through Isaac’s son, Jacob — Israel — saying: “The land I gave to Abraham and Isaac I give to you and to your descendants after you.”

That’s an everlasting promise.

And from those descendants came a child — born in Bethlehem — who claimed to be the Savior of the world. Jesus never rejected His title as “son of David,” the great King of Israel.

He said plainly that He came “for the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” And when He returns, Scripture says He will return as “the Lion of the tribe of Judah.” And where do you think He will go? Back to His homeland — Israel.

Tamir Kalifa / Stringer | Getty Images

And what will He find when He gets there? His brothers — or his brothers’ enemies? Will the roads where He once walked be preserved? Or will they lie in rubble, as Gaza does today? If what He finds looks like the aftermath of October 7th, then tell me — what will be my defense as a Christian?

Some Christians argue that God’s promises to Israel have been transferred exclusively to the Church. I don’t believe that. But even if you do, then ask yourself this: if we’ve inherited the promises, do we not also inherit the land? Can we claim the birthright and then, like Esau, treat it as worthless when the world tries to steal it?

So, when terrorists come to slaughter Israelis simply for living in the land promised to Abraham, will we stand by? Or will we step forward — into the line of fire — and say,

“Take me instead”?

Because this is not just about Israel’s right to exist.

It’s about whether we still know the difference between good and evil.

It’s about whether we still have the courage to stand where God stands.

And if we cannot — if we will not — then maybe the question isn’t whether Israel will survive. Maybe the question is whether we will.

Glenn's Show Prep

Was 'Safety Dance' Inspired by the Dance Plague of 1518?

Breaking point: Will America stand up to the mob?

The mob rises where men of courage fall silent. The lesson from Portland, Chicago, and other blue cities is simple: Appeasing radicals doesn’t buy peace — it only rents humiliation.

Antifa is organized, funded, and emboldened.

A history of violence

Dismember the dragon

URGENT: Supreme Court case could redefine religious liberty

The state is effectively silencing professionals who dare speak truths about gender and sexuality, redefining faith-guided speech as illegal.

The root of this case isn’t about therapy. It’s about erasing a worldview.

One‑sided freedom

Censored belief

Faith on trial

The real test

Glenn Beck joins Megyn Kelly LIVE — One night ONLY in Fort Worth!

What our response to Israel reveals about us

I have been honored to receive the Defender of Israel Award from Prime Minister Netanyahu.

Because faith isn’t required to understand this: Israel’s existence is not just about one nation’s survival — it is about the survival of Western civilization itself.

Israel has that right — and the right to defend herself against those who openly, repeatedly vow her destruction.

But that’s not what we hear.