In an effort to explain choreomania’s transmission, diseases and conditions such as Sydenham chorea, epilepsy, and ergot poisoning have all been posed as potential (secular) answers. On the surface, these seem rational as such conditions can lead to involuntary movements. Ergot Poisoning in particular had the potential to spread widely, as the cheaper grain was all that some Europeans could procure. Per witness accounts of the dancing, however, those afflicted were not merely experiencing prolonged muscle spasms or seizures, but truly dancing (via Smithsonian Mag). 

The largest known bout of choreomania perfectly illustrates its effects. In 16th-century Strasbourg, a single woman’s dancing induced an estimated 400 people to, seemingly, uncontrollably join her (via History.com). As doctors and officials at the time believing “hot blood” was the culprit, the dancers were encouraged to dance until they couldn’t, with bands even brought in to help. The twirling and gyrating dancers evidently did not slow down as hoped, and it took weeks of their bodies wearing down for the dancing to finally stop. In contrast to the pathological explanations posited by others, Dr. John Waller characterizes this seemingly memetic condition as a “mass psychogenic illness” potentially brought on by exacerbated social and economic stress (via The Guardian).