In medieval times, contagious, compulsive group dancing often erupted in times of extreme disease and economic distress.

In this lecture-demonstration, which pulls together dance, research, interviews and images, Maya asks: does this help explain the explosion of Tik Tok dances during COVID? Centuries later, “dancing disease” became a diagnosis white male doctors used to pathologize the poor, colonized cultures, and disorderly women. What light might this shed on bodies we currently consider unruly?

Audio excerpt from The Dancing Plagues. Images from performance of The Dancing Plagues at the De Saisset Museum, 2025 (Photo credit: Hok Leung); and from performance for The Public School LA at 2220Arts, 2021 (Photo credits: Maya Gurantz and David Haskell).