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“Dance can be seen depicted in paintings in Indian and Egyptian tombs dating c. 3300 BC. It was a social interaction tool, promoting proper relationships between individuals, castes, or gender. It was celebratory, used to rejoice a birth, harvest or wedding. Many dances are religious in nature, such as the Chinese Shaman rain dance. Ritual dance also has a place in Indian, African, and Tibetan societies, among others. Medieval Europe used the danses macabres to protect participants from disease (unfortunately, the dancing often led to death due to exhaustion!) But one of the earliest reasons for dance, and perhaps the one that is most true for us in Western dance culture, is dance as a method of expression. It was a performance for telling myths or sharing feelings with the opposite gender.”

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• Rate the following dance styles from 1 to 10 according to your preferences.

• After watching the video, how would you summarize it?
• What was the Dance Plague, and when did it occur?
• What were some of the symptoms experienced by those afflicted with the Dance Plague?
• If you were living in the time of the Dance Plague, do you think you would have been affected by it? Why or why not?
• The Dance Plague has been linked to stress, social tension, and religious fervor. Do you think these factors could trigger similar mass phenomena today, or is modern society too different?
• How do you think the Dance Plague affected people’s attitudes towards dance and music, both during and after the outbreak?
• If you could travel back in time to witness the Dance Plague, what aspects of the phenomenon do you think would be most surprising or intriguing to you?