Famous Guerrero Dances Herself into a Madhouse
Associated Press, May 1906 — Crazed by excessive dancing, the beautiful Spaniard Rosario Guerrero has been shut up in a madhouse in Vienna. Slightly shorter, and much slenderer and more supple than the famous Otero, Guerrero had also one of the most beautiful faces that ever came from Madrid.
Artists and sculpters raved over her, and when she left the French capital to go to Austria she was followed by three young noblemen, one of whom has since committed suicide. The other two men died in a duel.
Guerrero was in Vienna when King Alphonso visited that city. She stood on a balcony and threw 5,000 florins' worth of violets at the king. Now she is violently insane. She dances all the time, rising from her bed in the middle of the night to dance till she falls exhausted on the floor.
Guerrero made her American debut at the Lyric Theatre, New York, in November 1903, giving a tragic pantomime entitled “The Rose and the Dagger”.
This article appeared in various forms in newspapers across the United State in May 1906, even making it to the front page of the May 18 th edition of Philadelphia's The Evening Telegraph . The Oakland Tribune revisited the article in their "Heart Home: Tribune's PAge for Women" in the December 4, 1906 edition.
Other headlines included:
Rosa [sic] Guerrero Crazed by Excessive Dancing
Dainty Spanish Danseuse Is Confined in Vienna, Violently Insane
(Boston Herald)
Beautiful Dancer Who Becomes Insane
Famous Spanish Dancer Sent to the Madhouse in Vienna
“Crazed by excessive dancing, she gives herself up to the whirling maze of steps until she falls exhausted to the floor.”
(Syracuse [NY] Standard)
The strangest coverage of this incident in Guerrero's life can be found in Medical Bulletin: A Monthly Journal of Medicine And Surgery, edited by John V Shoemaker, MD, LLD, Volume 28, 1906
Recently a well-known Spanish dancer and actress became crazed by excessive dancing, and has since been shut up in an asylum in Vienna. She is violently insane and dances all the time, rising from her bed in the night to dance until she falls prostrated upon the floor. In November, 1903, she made her American debut at the Lyric Theatre in New York, giving a tragical pantomime entitled, "The Rose and the Dagger." Those whose fortune it was to see her while she was in America will remember how typically she posed in her pantomime. Indeed, so perfect and well-executed were her poses all through the performance that one would not think them to be the same person. It is fair to suppose that her efforts and desire to become perfect in the art have wrought such an influence on her mind and body that she fell a victim to her special work. This .sad state of affairs is often the case in other occupations. It so appears that the impress made upon the minds of the different specialists in the medical profession so influences the functions of the organ on which the particular individual is authority, that he becomes a victim of his own special profession. To verify the supposition that such is often the case, we will quote a few instances that have come under our observation in the past. There is in Philadelphia an eminent neurologist who is a sufferer of paralysis agitans. A few years ago, in this city, one of the great teachers of medicine, and a specialist on diseases of the heart, known as such the world over, suddenly died of some disease of the heart. A great London specialist on disorders of the stomach some years ago described the location of the ulceration in his stomach long before he died. At his request the true condition was verified by a post-mortem examination. One of the first anatomists of the world, who brought fame and reputation to Philadelphia as a medical center, and who made many observations on the brain and nervous system, became a victim of softening of the brain, which eventually destroyed his life. It is worth mentioning in this connection that the anatomist just referred to was so interested in the anatomy of the brain and nervous system that it afforded him the greatest pleasure to come before his classes, to make dissections and give demonstrations upon the subject. Indeed, all over the world are instances recorded where men who have made a special study of the diseases of some organ in the body, fall victims to one of the diseases which so largely occupied their minds. There really seems some truth in this fact, though it may be based upon only a few instances; but nevertheless it happens, and we are forced to give it thought and consideration.
Consultation Department.