The first time I saw the baby doll dance, I thought I had stumbled upon a cult sacrifice. The baby doll dance is a fiery, energetic, deeply peculiar tradition that pops up during Summer Italian-American festivals in Eastern Ohio and Western Pennsylvania. It starts with a person inside of a “baby doll” costume-a makeshift, old world ensemble usually made from cloth and paper resembling the likeness of a rural Italian woman. The costume features wooden planks outstretched like a scarecrow, and it towers above its wearers’ frame like a vertical suit of armor. Only the dancer’s shoes are visible.