Keep scrolling down to see Maypole videos and other Maypole information. If this is your first visit to Squidoo, a big hearty welcome. Have fun! And thank you for visiting!
Photo Courtesy of the Pendleton District Commission
Maypole - The way I remember it
May Pole Dancing at Litton Cheney Fete 2005
May Pole Dancing at Litton Cheney Fete 2005 The most well known symbol of May Day (1st May) is the maypole. The custom of dancing around the maypole is an ancient fertility rite, which is still performed today on village greens and at spring fetes. The origins of the maypole hark back to ancient times when tree spirits were worshiped and indeed the first maypoles were tall slender trees, usually birch, which had their branches lopped off, leaving just a few at the top to be adorned with garlands and blossom: a far cry from the more elaborate designs of today. The maypole itself is a phallic symbol representing the planting of the god's phallus into the mother earth's womb, there by illustrating the bringing forth of new life. In addition some maypoles are painted with red and white spiral stripes in much the same way as a barber's pole and this too has sexual meaning: the red representing the female menstrual blood and the white the male semen. The sexual symbolism of the maypole and all the immoral revelry that went along with it led the Puritans to out-law the maypole custom in 1644. However, this prohibition was soon repealed after the restoration of Charles II in 1660. Many towns and parishes erected permanent maypoles in celebration, some boasting 80 or 90 feet! These permanent poles were left to stand throughout the year but only decorated and danced around on May Day. Dancing around the maypole was once a very merry and frivolous affair, yet today's maypole dancing with its colourful ribbons is a relatively modern dance, only dating back to the nineteenth century. However, this new adaptation is now accepted as a very important aspect of the maypole dance. By taking two ribbons and weaving them together the dancers make a new element, thus two makes three representing the sexual union and the offspring. Discover more Dorset traditions in the book 'Dark Dorset Calendar Customs', by Robert Newland, now available at Amazon.co.uk. Visit the Dark Dorset website, http://www.darkdorset.co.uk or blog http://darkdorset.blogspot.com and open the door to a world of fascinating folklore and legends.
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15328 views
16 Comments:
curated content from YouTube
May Pole Dance Music on MP3
From Amazon - click for more information
Twitter Maypole conversations
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- joeythisisit
- Maypole pub for after drinks. Mhmmm. http://twitpic.com/re727
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- robertsammons
- Q:'The maypole is a tall wooden pole (trad... A:sadly im not as gay as that maypole http://formspring.me/robertsammons/q/39575 #formspringme
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- robertsammons
- Q:Are you as gay as a maypole? A:whats a maypole ? :P http://formspring.me/robertsammons/q/39466 #formspringme
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- queeniefox
- "MAYPOLE DANCING AT THE SQUARE WITH THAT OLD LADY AND HER ACCORDIAN!" FUCK YES. She was awesome.
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- chatterboxreb
- I want to put a flowery hat on his head and get him to do a maypole dance #xfactor
More Modern May Pole Dance
May Pole Dancing at Winterborne Stickland Fete 2006
May Pole Dancing at Winterborne Stickland Fete 2006 The most well known symbol of May Day (1st May) is the maypole. The custom of dancing around the maypole is an ancient fertility rite, which is still performed today on village greens and at spring fetes. The origins of the maypole hark back to ancient times when tree spirits were worshiped and indeed the first maypoles were tall slender trees, usually birch, which had their branches lopped off, leaving just a few at the top to be adorned with garlands and blossom: a far cry from the more elaborate designs of today. The maypole itself is a phallic symbol representing the planting of the god's phallus into the mother earth's womb, there by illustrating the bringing forth of new life. In addition some maypoles are painted with red and white spiral stripes in much the same way as a barber's pole and this too has sexual meaning: the red representing the female menstrual blood and the white the male semen. The sexual symbolism of the maypole and all the immoral revelry that went along with it led the Puritans to out-law the maypole custom in 1644. However, this prohibition was soon repealed after the restoration of Charles II in 1660. Many towns and parishes erected permanent maypoles in celebration, some boasting 80 or 90 feet! These permanent poles were left to stand throughout the year but only decorated and danced around on May Day. Dancing around the maypole was once a very merry and frivolous affair, yet today's maypole dancing with its colourful ribbons is a relatively modern dance, only dating back to the nineteenth century. However, this new adaptation is now accepted as a very important aspect of the maypole dance. By taking two ribbons and weaving them together the dancers make a new element, thus two makes three representing the sexual union and the offspring. Discover more Dorset traditions in the book 'Dark Dorset Calendar Customs', by Robert Newland, now available at Amazon.co.uk. Visit the Dark Dorset website, http://www.darkdorset.co.uk or blog http://darkdorset.blogspot.com and open the door to a world of fascinating folklore and legends.
Runtime: 173
21487 views
18 Comments:
curated content from YouTube
4th Graders Dance the Maypole
Have you ever danced around the Maypole?
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- WhitePineLane WhitePineLane Oct 18, 2009 @ 11:13 am
- There's Maypole dancing every year at the Land of the Loon Festival near our cabin in northern Minnesota! It's great fun!
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- grannysage grannysage Sep 2, 2009 @ 8:23 pm
- Ah yes, mylady, we dance the Maypole at out Beltane celebrations. You are right about it being a fertility rite, sometimes the lads and lassies get a wee bit carried away!
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- Gill N. Gill N. Aug 20, 2009 @ 9:26 am
- I have just been reminded of my maypole days by an Indian display of Maypole Dancing in Hyde Park at a festival. I was a fifties child in a West Riding School in Yorkshire, where we always celebrated May Day with a May Queen and country dancing, which we practised all year. It was always a special occasion, and I still have some photos.
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- JaguarJulie JaguarJulie Aug 13, 2009 @ 2:49 pm
- Do you know that I was just contemplating the maypole dance? And, wondering if they still do this?
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- spirituality spirituality May 15, 2009 @ 10:02 am
- Great lens - you've been blessed by a squidoo angel :)
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- Minda Minda May 11, 2009 @ 8:18 pm | in reply to stargazer00
- It is really a beautiful sight to see the Maypole done with the different colored streamers swaying the breeze. The videos just don't do it justice.
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- stargazer00 stargazer00 Apr 26, 2009 @ 1:40 pm
- I've heard of it but never actually seen it done. Looks like a beautiful tradition. Love the photos of your class!
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- CCGAL CCGAL Apr 19, 2009 @ 7:12 am
- This was my first exposure outside of books to the Maypole dance. I'd seen something similar at a small renfest, but they didn't wrap the pole; the ribbons rotated with the dancers there. Way cool lens!
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- MsSnow4a MsSnow4a Apr 2, 2009 @ 4:21 pm
- Hi joan, Nice lens about Maypoles. hehe. Must be a great month. May that is lol I have not danced around a maypole that I can remember. Maybe someday :)
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- Tiddledeewinks Tiddledeewinks Mar 30, 2009 @ 3:34 pm
- Never done it before. Wish we had more of the "olden" days things like that. There seems to be some things of yesteryear returning now though.
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- julcal julcal Mar 13, 2009 @ 11:13 am
- Oh, I had forgotten about this tradition, thanks for the sweet reminder ! 5*
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- sittonbull sittonbull Feb 23, 2009 @ 11:00 pm
- "Confessions of a male teenage pole dancer" would not read nearly as exciting as it sounds! I remember it was required curriculum in grade school on May Day!
You can rest assured I would have a lot more "fun" with it today, but was not too enthused about it then!
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- OhMe OhMe Feb 23, 2009 @ 10:23 am | in reply to GrowWear
- Can you believe that the one photo we found was one of Joan's 4th grade class dancing the May Pole? Amazing
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- GrowWear GrowWear Feb 18, 2009 @ 4:43 pm
- Such a nice remembrance, Joan. Love the 1953 photo!
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- OhMe OhMe Feb 13, 2009 @ 2:25 pm
- Welcome to the South Carolina Group
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- OhMe OhMe Jan 30, 2009 @ 6:38 pm
- Oh Joan, I remember it like it was yesterday, too. Our class did it to the music "Sugar in the morning, Sugar in the evening, Sugar at supertime. Be my little Sugar and love me all the time". The theme was the 48 states. lol and we were Texas and my partner, Scott Peterson, and I had to wear Lavender Gingham. I never did like that color and my partner certainly didn't. lol
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- mukunda22 mukunda22 Jan 30, 2009 @ 5:30 pm
- Isn't the May Pole dance associated with May Day?
Faved and high fived!!
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- Joan4 Joan4 Jan 30, 2009 @ 4:40 pm | in reply to Evelyn_Saenz
- oh flowers and fiddlers!!!!!! I love it! wonderful!
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- Joan4 Joan4 Jan 30, 2009 @ 4:37 pm | in reply to Charlyjl
- lol Charly! I got excited and did it about 4 months early. It is a traditional spring dance, first of May! I just had so much fun watching that first video and remembering it, that I just went ahead and shared! Thanks for visiting!
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- Evelyn_Saenz Evelyn_Saenz Jan 30, 2009 @ 4:30 pm
- When we homeschooled in Boston we always danced the Maypole. We helped the kids string flowers to wear in their hair and had a few fiddlers play the music for us. We had a wonderful time with children, teens and adults all joining in.
Thank you, Joan for the memories.
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- Charlyjl Charlyjl Jan 30, 2009 @ 4:28 pm
- We don't do the Maypole Dance here. I've certainly seen it performed though. Maybe it's because it's Winter here!
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- KathrynGrayson KathrynGrayson Jan 30, 2009 @ 4:19 pm
- too neat! great lens Mom! I need to learn to Maypole Dance!
- Directions to Maypole dance
- Skipping Circle Maypole Dance
To begin, participants stand shoulder to shoulder, about 2 feet (60cm) apart, facing center, in a large circle.
If you are going to dance around a Maypole have one long streamer per person attached at least head high on the pole. When dancers come into the center in part A. each person picks up a streamer and takes it back out to the edge of the circle, holding it in their right hand, (or if a loop has been added to the end of the streamer it can be slipped on the right wrist), for the rest of the dance.
If you use streamers, it is best not to move in and out of the circle till the very last part of coming into the circle a final time, then dropping the streamers and moving backward to the full circle for the closing.
Pendleton Elementary Fourth Grade Class - 1953
Photo Courtesy of the Pendleton District Commission
by Joan4
I am a happy South Carolina Grandma! I enjoy writing about family issues, self-improvement and music! I love a good sing-along! My husband is legally...
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