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

September 21, 2016

Lori Hanes

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 Historical documents, including physician notes, cathedral sermons, local regional chronicles, even the notes issued by the Strasbourg City Council are clear that the victims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.

Trump to Glenn Beck: I REJECTED Milley's plan to leave military equipment in Afghanistan, and 'I GUARANTEE that's what happened to Biden'

For the first time in the history of "The Glenn Beck Program," former President Donald Trump joined Glenn to give his take on America's direction under President Joe Biden compared to his own administration. He explained why Biden's horrific Afghanistan withdrawal was "not even a little bit" like his plan, and why he thinks it was "the most embarrassing event in the history of our country."

Plus, the former president gave his opinion on China's potential takeover of Bagram Air Base, the Pakistani Prime Minister, and Gen. Mark A. Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

Glenn asked President Trump how similar the Biden administration's withdrawal from Afghanistan was to his administration's plan.

"Not even a little bit," Trump answered. "We had a great plan, but it was a very tenuous plan. It was based on many conditions. For instance, you can't kill American soldiers. ... You have to understand, I did want to get out. But I wanted to get out with dignity, and I wanted to take our equipment out. And I didn't want soldiers killed. ... What [Biden] did was just indefensible. He took the military out first and he left all the people. And then we became beggars to get the people out. I had a plan to get them out very quickly. But first, the Americans would go out."

Trump told Glenn that his plan included maintaining Bagram Air Base and explained why he would not have left "a single nail" behind in Afghanistan for the Taliban to seize.

"We were going to keep Bagram open," he explained. "We were never going to close that because, frankly, Bagram is more about China than it is about Afghanistan. It was practically on the other border of China. And now we've lost that. And you know who is taking it over? China is taking it over. We spend $10 billion to build that base. It's got the longest, most powerful runways in the world. And China has now got its representatives there and it looks like they'll take it over. Glenn, it's not believable what's happened. You know, they have Apache helicopters. These are really expensive weapons, and they have 28 of them. And they're brand-new. The latest model."

Glenn mentioned recent reports that Gen. Milley, America's top military officer, made "secret phone calls" to his counterpart in China while President Trump was in office.

"I learned early on that he was a dope," Trump said of Gen. Milley. "He made a statement to me — and I guarantee that's what happened to Biden — because I said, 'We're getting out of Afghanistan. We have to do it.' And I said, 'I want every nail. I want every screw. I want every bolt. I want every plane. I want every tank. I want it all out, down to the nails, screws, bolts ... I want every single thing. And he said, 'Sir, it's cheaper to leave it than it is to bring it.'

"The airplane might have cost $40 million, $50 million ... millions and millions of dollars. So, you think it's cheaper to leave it than to have 200 pilots fly over and fly all the equipment out? ... I said, you've got to be nuts. I mean, give me a tank of gas and a pilot and I just picked up a $40 million-dollar airplane. It was amazing. So, I learned early that this guy is a dope. But what he did, is he hurt our country ... and he shouldn't have been allowed to do it. And bad things should happen to him."

Watch the video clip below to catch more of the conversation or find the full interview on BlazeTV:

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Glenn Beck EXPLODES after Pelosi admits to Uyghur 'GENOCIDE' in China — but adds climate is 'overriding issue'

Photo by MANDEL NGAN/AFP via Getty Images/screenshot

In a shocking but underreported conversation ahead of the G7 Speakers' meeting in London last week, Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi admitted that the administration knows China is committing "genocide" against the Uyghurs in the Xinjiang region, but thinks working with the regime on climate change is more important.

On the radio program, an outraged Glenn Beck dissected Pelosi's speech and broke down how — along with the Biden administration's abandonment of Americans in Afghanistan, and the Democrat decision to follow measures of medical "equity" — the far left is revealing how little they really care about human life.

Glenn played a video clip of Pelosi making the following statement:

We've always felt connected to China, but with their military aggression in the South China Sea, with their continuation of genocide with the Uyghurs in Xinjiang province there, with their violation of the cultural, linguistic, religious priority of Tibet, with their suppression of democracy in Hong Kong and other parts of China, as well – they're just getting worse in terms of suppression, and freedom of speech. So, human rights, security, economically [sic].

Having said all of that ... we have to work together on climate. Climate is an overriding issue and China is the leading emitter in the world, the U.S. too and developed world too, but we must work together.

"We have Nancy Pelosi admitting the United States of America knows that they're not only committing [genocide], they're continuing to commit it. Which means, we've known for a while," Glenn noted. "And what does she say? She goes on to say, yes, they're committing genocide against the Uyghurs, but having said that, I'm quoting, 'the overriding issue,' is working together on climate change.

"Would we have worked with Hitler on climate change? Would we have worked with Hitler on developing the bomb? Would we have worked with Hitler on developing the Autobahn? Would we have worked with Hitler on his socialized medicine? Would we have worked with Hitler on any of his national, socialist ideas?" he asked.

"The answer is no. No. When you're committing genocide, no! She said 'we have to work together on climate,' because climate is the 'overriding issue.' The overriding issue? There is no way to describe this mindset. That, yes, they are killing an entire group of people because of their ethnicity or religion. They are systematically rounding them up, using them for slave labor, and killing them, using their organs and selling them on the open market. They are nothing more than cattle. For us to recognize it and do nothing about it is bad enough. But to say, 'we recognize it, but we have bigger things to talk to them about,' is a horror show."

Glenn went on to urge Americans to "stand up together in love, peace, and harmony," or risk watching our nation become the worst plague on human life yet.

Watch the video clip below to hear more from Glenn:

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Glenn Beck WARNS: The economy is changing and 'you are not going to recognize the American lifestyle'

Image source: Video screenshot

The fall of Lehman Brothers in 2008 marked the largest bankruptcy filing in U.S. history and economic collapse was felt throughout the world. But now China's own version of Lehman Brothers, Evergrande, is teetering closer and closer to that edge, too. On the radio program Thursday, Glenn Beck gave the latest update and predicted how it will affect Asian markets and what it could mean for America's economy.

Glenn explained why he believes a major collapse that is happening now in China will have a cascading effect into a "controlled collapse," a managed decline that will dramatically change America's economy and the way we all live.

"You will not recognize your lifestyle. Hear me," Glenn warned. "And that's not a right-left thing. That's a right-wrong thing. We're on the wrong track. I'm telling you now, there's new information and you are not going to recognize the American lifestyle. ... It could happen tomorrow. It could happen in five years from now, but it will happen. We are headed for a very different country. One where you don't have the rights that you have. And you certainly don't have the economic privileges that Americans are used to."

"The same thing that happened in 2008 is now happening in China," Glenn continued. "This time, it's going to take everything down. When it collapses, it will take everything down."

Watch the video below to hear Glenn break down the details:

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'Do you understand, America, what that means?': World Economic Forum publishes SHOCKING Great Reset strategy

Justin Haskins, editorial director of the Heartland Institute, joined Glenn Beck on the radio program to expose a shocking conversation between two Great Reset proponents — Klaus Schwab, chairman of the World Economic Forum, and Christine Lagarde, president of the European Central Bank (Europe's equivalent to the Fed).

The way Schwab and Lagarde discuss the role central banks should play in establishing societal norms, determining your way of life, and defending against potential crisis is proof that the Great Reset is upon us, Justin explained. And the scariest part is that they're not even trying to hide it. The entire, unbelievable conversation has been published on the WEF website, which you can read here.

Glenn read an excerpt from the conversation:

Christine Lagarde: At the ECB, we have now wrapped up and concluded our strategy review, which was the first one in 17 years. And I was blessed to have an entire Governing Council unanimously agree that the fight against climate change should be one of the considerations that we take when we determine monetary policy. So at least the European Central Bank is of the view that climate change is an important component in order to decide on monetary policy. ...

Can we arrive at that trade-off between fighting climate change, preserving biodiversity and yet securing enough growth to respond to legitimate demands of the population? And my first answer, Klaus, to be firm, is that to have a way of life, we need life. And in the medium term, we do have major threats on the horizon that could cause the death of hundreds of thousands of people. So we have to think life, first. We have to think way of life, second. ...

So we have to think life, first. We have to think way of life, second. How can we come together to make sure that we secure the first priority, which is life, and also protect the way of life that people have? And make sure that the cost of it is not so high for some people, that they just cannot tolerate it. I think that the trade-off that we reach will probably require some redistribution, because it is clear that the most exposed people, the less privileged people are those that are going to need some help.

"Do you understand, America, what that means?" Glenn exclaimed. "You have elites, that you never elected, that are having these meetings ... deciding what is a legitimate need for you. And telling you that your needs are going to go away in your lifetime. You may not see a time where you get wants again. Just your needs are going to be addressed. Am I reading this wrong?"

"This is absolutely what is being said here," Justin agreed. "She's very clear that we need to make sure that way of life is second to life. We have to save all these people, hundreds of thousands of people are going to die from this supposedly existential threat of climate change. And their wants, and their desires, and their quality of living, all of that has to come second."

"This is a central bank saying this. This is not an elected official, who is accountable directly to the people. This is a central bank saying, we're going to print money. We're going to use monetary policy, to impose these ideas, to rework society in order to accomplish our goals," Justin added, addressing Lagarde's call for "some redistribution."

Will Great Reset elites — not elected by the U.S. — soon be dictating to the rest of the world? Watch the video clip below to hear Glenn and Justin break it down:

Glenn's Show Prep

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

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Glenn Beck EXPLODES after Pelosi admits to Uyghur 'GENOCIDE' in China — but adds climate is 'overriding issue'

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Glenn Beck WARNS: The economy is changing and 'you are not going to recognize the American lifestyle'

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'Do you understand, America, what that means?': World Economic Forum publishes SHOCKING Great Reset strategy

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