Maypole Dancing was one of the most popular traditions celebrating May Day, or the first day of May in Britain, believed to be around 600 years old. Marking the end of winter and the start of the weather that would allow for planting to begin, villagers celebrated by cutting up young trees, sticking them in the ground, and dancing around them.
Maypoles used to be very common across England and were kept from one year to the other. To deliver the best act, schools would practice dancing around the tree poles for weeks before the dance would have to be performed during the village festival. Traditionally, the dancers were put in pairs of boys and girls before beginning the routine where they create a colorful pattern that moves steadily down the pole and then reverse their steps to undo the ribbons. The ritual is said to represent the lengthening of the days as summer arrives, however, the significance of the pole itself is still unknown.
Depending on how well the schools practiced, the dance would usually result in a beautiful show of plaited ribbons, or a huge tangled mess. To this day, maypoles continue to be a part of some villages’ celebrations of May Day where the villagers dance around the poles to celebrate the coming of a season of love, joy, and warm weather.
By Eurospeak
