Theatrum Mundi programme curator, Andrea Cetrulo is joined by dancer and professor of performance and the humanities at King’s College London, author of the book Choreomania: Dance and Disorder, Kelina Gotman. They discuss her book, which deals with archival materials on the phenomenon called ‘choreomania’ (or dancing madness), initially employed to describe contagious popular dances: From antiquarian references to ancient Greek bacchanals and mediaeval St. Vitus’s dances to scientific reperformances of early modern religious ecstasies, and American government anthropology, ‘choreomania’ arose to signal every gestural and choreographic unrest. But how contagious was this dancing disease and what is it actually categorised as a disease throughout history?
Curated and hosted by Andrea Cetrulo
Illustration by Sophie Rogers for Theatrum Mundi
Design by Marcos Villalba
Sound Editor: William Messenger
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