THE DANCE OF DEATH.

Auckland Star, Volume LX, Issue 164, 13 July 1929, Page 16 (Supplement)

THE DANCE OF DEATH.

GRIM ORIGIN AND HUMOUR

A MANIA OF THE MIDDLE AGES

APPALLiNG SCENES OF REVELRY,

(By 8.C.)

Among the most hideous phenomena of the human mi;id that the world has seen is the Dance of Death, or, in more popular term, the Danse Macabre, which swept over Europe in the fourteenth century. There has been much disputing over the derivation of the latter nomenclature, but the generally accepted opinion appears to be that the word is a corruption of "Macarius," -the saint to whom the dance was dedicated. The first record of this pantomimic dance, which was originally conceived as a dramatic morality, is in 1384. For some ten years previously Europe had been ravaged by the Black Death, which in London alone killed hundreds daily for a time. There had been wars and famines; the people were saturated with misery and acquainted with death in its worst shape, and the result was seen in a sudden reactionary spirit of unnatural levity. The Danse Macabre was, in fact, a frenzied mockery of the desolation of the times. There is ample evidence to show that it was at first intended to be highly moral in its effect, but it quickly degenerated into appalling scenes of revelry, -inwhich men danced with a fearful irony upon the very bones of their dead fellows. The strangest characteristic of the Danse Macabre was -that it was immediately preceded by a sort of epidemic of dancing which was so utterly incomprehensible as to have been without a name. This disease—for it was that— appeared first in Germany in 1374, in the shape of a dancing mania, accompanied by abberation of mind and uncouth distortions of the body. It quickly spread to England, where thousands of people began to dance involuntary maniac dances in the streets. The most extraordinary scenes were witnessed, almost infernal in character. The following description is taken from an account written by a student of the subject about 100 years ago:— "Those who looked on were caught suddenly by the sickness; others seemed smitten by the epidemic even within doors, and rushed from their hftuses to join the dancing crew, unable to resist the frantic impulse. All joined in one great frenzied round, until the chain was broken by force —an effort seldom made, as contact seemed to impart the contagion irresistibly to the breaker of the ring—or until they fell exhausted, and even dead with fatigue. Death, indeed, generally ensued upon a seizure by the dancing mania." It was immediately following on the disappearance of this dancing mania that the practice began of executing the Danse Macabre. Of its character and form in England no record remains, but French records are copious enough. It is -from these that we obtain our picture® of one of the most appalling scourges even inflicted on humanity. The popular rendezvous in Paris for performance of the Danse .Macabre was the Cimetierc des Innocents, the central burial place of the city, later converted into markets. The locality 'was then known as the "Charniers," or charnel houses, the haunt of thieves and vagabonds—a ghastly spot, if Ave may believe the historians. Here is the account of it given by our student:—

"At the commencement of the fifteenth century a large chapel was constructed at one of its extremities, and charnel houses, adorned with all the picturesque fancy of the day, were erected round the other three sides. The long alluvium of mortal corruption had raised the whole ground to many feet above the neighbouring streets, and the new structures formed a sort of temple of death, in which the dead dominated the living, and the living in turn came to gambol in triumphant mockery and contempt over the dead. The lower part was composed of arcades. Above them were upper storeys and lines of garrets in which the bones of the dead were hung up when taken from reopened tombs." Dreadful Orgies. , In such surroundings, incredible as it may appear, Paris held fair, and here La Danse Macabre was practised in its dreadful orgies, devoid of morality or art. The actors in the dance are described as wearing black dresses, upon which were painted the bones of skeletons, and masks representing skulls. Meantime, the fair did a thriving trade, applauding the spectacle of death in effigy, jesting and making love, and thoroughly at home in all respects. Death danced with persons of every age and rank, in representation of the inevitable fate of all, levelling all to the equality of the grave.

The popularity of this obscene masquerade was so great that it was made the subject of innumerable paintings on the wails of holy buildings throughout Europe. The Danse Macabre became known as a mystery play, sometimes given the title of "The Parliament of Death." The performances varied a great deal, but were all distinguished by gross' parody of the Divine. Notwithstanding, they seem to have been approved thoroughly by the clergy of the time, who even postponed the hours of service in order that people might attend these miracle plays.

The earliest painting of the Danse Macabre is said to have been executed in 1383 at Minden, in Westphalia. From this claim arose a dispute as to whether the dance was evolved from the painting or the painting from the dance. The evidence on either side ,is confused. The French writer, .Michelet, however, declared positively that, the dances in painting owed their origin to. certain sacred representations played in the churches, the streets and the cemeteries. Collected records elsewhere suggest that the two appeared coincidentally.

In England the Dance of Death was known as "The Shaking of the Sheet," probably an allusion to the cerements of the grave worn by the principal actors in the scene. The name survived for some years as the title of a popular ballad. In the middle ages the unsavoury subject was eagerly seized upon by artists,' an<f survives in picture and carving, in many countries. The dancing mania attacked Italy in the sixteenth century, where, it was known as Tarantism, owing v to a belief that it was caused by the bite of the tarantula spider. However, that may be, the Danse Macabre was the outcome of one'of the most mysterious afflictions in the history ,of : civilisation. For that reason alone it must always challenge interest. 1