Dancing goes back to primitive times, and magical powers have been attributed to it.
When a witch doctor dances, it is to exorcise evil spirits from the sick person. I read that during the Middle Ages people even danced to avoid the plague. The Tarantella of Italy is believed to have originated after a poisonous spider s bite caused tarantism, and the cure for it was a jumping dance. Today s dance therapy evolved from the age-old idea that dancing has the power to cure. These days, dance therapists are mental health professionals, who treat problems such as neurosis, psychosis, and even alcoholism with the dance.