Sigerist contends that St. Vitus' dance was similar to ancient Greek orgiastic rites that had been outlawed by Christian authorities but were secretly practised. (It should be noted that although St. Vitus' dance has entered the medical lexicon as an alternative term for Sydenham's chorea, few modern-day researchers claim that participants in dancing manias were literally suffering from chorea.) Eventually the dancing manias grew more open when authorities realized they could not suppress them.² Modern raves began as clandestine gatherings at secret venues with the location revealed just hours before the event to deter law enforcement surveillance. Six hundred and fifty years ago German magistrates paid musicians to perform for participants and to serve as dancing companions. This was designed to reduce injuries and mischief during their procession to the nearby St. Vitus' chapel.³ Today, volunteer groups attend raves to offer safety advice; some government agencies, including those in Canada, sanction supervised raves. These measures are intended to prevent these gatherings from spiralling out of control and to reduce harm to participants.

Contrary to popular psychiatric portrayals of medieval dancing manias, women were not overrepresented among participants and episodes were not spontaneous but highly structured, and they involved sects engaging in strange or unfamiliar customs.^4,5 Modern ravers are male and female adolescents and young adults who espouse counterculture values.

Participants in medieval dancing manias and tarantism worshipped in a discernible pattern. They would typically begin dancing at sunrise, stop at midday to sleep, sweat and bathe and then dance until evening when they would sleep and sweat, eat a light meal and then sleep until sunrise. This ritual was typically repeated over 4 or 5 days, and sometimes over weeks.⁶ Today, a prominent harm-reduction strategy at supervised raves includes taking breaks from dancing and drinking plenty of fluids.

Modern-day raves resemble the dancing manias within a different historical and cultural context, fulfilling similar social and psychological needs.