What is maypole dancing?

Answer 1

MYPOLE DANCING-

It's kind of hard to explain, but I'll try my best. Ribbons are attached to a pole and dancers, usually kids, go up to the pull and grap a ribbon and then proceed to weave in and out of each other to create a may pole. In the end, it looks like basket weaving on a pole. It's called maypole dancing because on May Day, people in the Middle Ages would have a festival and do the MayPole dance.

The first kind of maypole dancing is probably extremely ancient and is thought by some to have Germanic pagan fertility symbolism, although there is a frustrating lack of evidence to support this conjecture. It is traditionally performed in the spring around the festival of May Day, but in Sweden it is during the midsummer festivities.

The second kind of maypole dancing originates in the 18th century, derived from traditional and 'art' dance forms popular in Italy and France. These were exported to the London stage and reached a large audience, becoming part of the popular performance repertoire. Adopted at a large teacher training institution, the ribbon maypole dance then spread across most of central and southern England and is now regarded as the most 'traditional' of May Day's traditional characteristics.-

Answer 2

In Elizabethan times people would hold hands and dance around a tall maypole (some could be over 100 feet high) from which many of our country dances developed.

The plaiting of ribbons around the pole was not widely practiced in England until later in the nineteenth century. In 1881 John Ruskin suggested that it be part of the May Day celebrations at Whitelands Teacher Training College. From here it spread to schools all over the country.

It may have originally been a trade dance from Provence in Southern France known as "Li Courdello" (the Strings or Ribbons). Here a pole about 7 feet high with hanging ribbons is carried into the dancing area and held upright. Men and women take hold of the end of the ribbons and weave in and out of each other in a "grand chain" with a lively polka step plaiting then unplaiting the ribbons.

In the Hamlet of Dauphine on the Italian Border "li Courdello" is performed in the middle of a sword dance.

Ribbon plaiting was performed in pleasure gardens such as Vauxhall and Ranelagh in London during the eighteenth century. In 1742, Horace Walpole wrote: "Two nights ago, the gardens opened at Chelsea; the prince, princess, the Duke of Cumberland, much nobility and much mob were there. There is a vast amphitheatre, finely gilt, painted and illumoinated into which everybody that loves eating, drinking, staring or crowding is admitted for twelve pence"
A masquerade: " the prettiest spectacle that ever I saw ... when you entered you found the whole garden spread with tents ... a maypole dressed with garlands and people dancing around it ... all masked, as were the various bands of music."
A painting of May 1759 shows an Italian style masquerade with a ribbon and pole dance being performed.

The Ballet "La fille mal gardee" premiered: 1789 in Bordeaux and 1791 in London, used popular French tunes for a story of rustic folk (instead of the usual royalty, heroes and gods of the time). It includes a ribbon plaiting maypole dance.

Sources:
Dancing Round the Maypole . Maypole and country dance instruction manual. Diana Jewitt
Dances of France II: Provence and Alsace. Nicolette Tennevin and Marie Texier, Editor Violet Alford.
In Performance. A Companion to the Classics of the Dance. Nancy Reynolds and Susan Reimer-Torn.

Answer 3

Maypole dancing is a form of folk dance from western Europe, especially England, Sweden and Germany, with two distinctive traditions. In the most widespread, dancers perform circle dances around a tall pole which is decorated with garlands, painted stripes, flowers, flags and other emblems. In the second, dancers dance in a circle each holding a coloured ribbon attached to a much smaller pole; the ribbons are intertwined and plaited either on to the pole itself or into a web around the pole. The dancers may then retrace their steps exactly in order to unravel the ribbons.

The first kind of maypole dancing is probably extremely ancient and is thought by some to have Germanic pagan fertility symbolism, although there is a frustrating lack of evidence to support this conjecture. It is traditionally performed in the spring around the festival of May Day, but in Sweden it is during the midsummer festivities.

The second kind of maypole dancing originates in the 18th century, derived from traditional and 'art' dance forms popular in Italy and France. These were exported to the London stage and reached a large audience, becoming part of the popular performance repertoire. Adopted at a large teacher training institution, the ribbon maypole dance then spread across most of central and southern England and is now regarded as the most 'traditional' of May Day's traditional characteristics.

Answer 4

Maypole dancing is a form of folk dance from western Europe, especially England, Sweden and Germany, with two distinctive traditions. In the most widespread, dancers perform circle dances around a tall pole which is decorated with garlands, painted stripes, flowers, flags and other emblems.In the second, dancers dance in a circle each holding a coloured ribbon attached to a much smaller pole; the ribbons are intertwined and plaited either on to the pole itself or into a web around the pole. The dancers may then retrace their steps exactly in order to unravel the ribbons.

The first kind of maypole dancing is probably extremely ancient and is thought by some to have Germanic pagan fertility symbolism, although there is a frustrating lack of evidence to support this conjecture. It is traditionally performed in the spring around the festival of May Day, but in Sweden it is during the midsummer festivities.

The second kind of maypole dancing originates in the 18th century, derived from traditional and 'art' dance forms popular in Italy and France. These were exported to the London stage and reached a large audience, becoming part of the popular performance repertoire. Adopted at a large teacher training institution, the ribbon maypole dance then spread across most of central and southern England and is now regarded as the most 'traditional' of May Day's traditional characteristics.

for more : http://www.streetswing.com/histmain/z3maypol.htm
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Answer 5

There is also a form of maypole dance that was established in the renaissance, that involved gypsy's and belly dancing. At the festival I work at we do a different type of dance around the maypole than that of which is usually specified. It all depends where you perform it and what occasion you are performing it for.

Answer 6

Looks like dawicca covered it, but - just thought I'd add: it's really big in Hawaii! Elementary schools put on a May Day celebration, and taking part in the maypole dance is a big deal, with lots of practice to not trip over the ribbons.

Answer 7

The maypole is a tall wooden pole (traditionally of hawthorn or birch), sometimes erected with several long coloured ribbons suspended from the top, festooned with flowers, draped in greenery and strapped with large circular wreaths, depending on local and regional variances. What is often thought of as the "traditional" English/British maypole (a somewhat shorter, plainer version of the Scandinavian pole with ribbons tied at the top and hanging to the ground) is a relatively recent development of the tradition and is probably derived from the picturesque, Italianate dances performed in mid-19th century theatricals. It is usually this shorter, plainer maypole that people (usually school children) perform dances around, weaving the ribbons in and out to create striking patterns.

Answer 8

It's just like normal pole dancing, except it has to be performed by some girl called May.