Published Nov 10, 2026 9:01 AM EST There’s a chance that if you visited southern Italy during the Middle Ages, you might happen upon a port town where people were dancing uncontrollably in the streets. You’d find them frantically spinning, jumping…even crawling on the ground. But unlike the broader “dancing mania” that was taking place across Europe at the same time, this dance, dubbed the “tarantella,” was more than a sickness. It was also a cure.