Teaching Maypole Dancing

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SRFN : Events 2003 : Teaching Maypole Dancing

Teaching Maypole Dancing

an introduction for teachers and youth leaders

Kelham Island Museum, Sheffield, Sunday 13 April 2003

When posed with the question, "What are England's cultural traditions?" perhaps one of the images called to mind is that of children dancing round the Maypole on May Day. Sadly, this ancient custom is practised less and less; yet another dying art?

Not if we have anything to do with it.

Until recently, Maypole Dancing was practised by children from Blackburn Meadows Junior School in Rotherham, ably taught and led by Mrs. Pat Taylor. Since her retirement, no one has picked up this particular baton and run with it.

The South Riding Folk Network, motivated not least by self-interest (we need children to dance the Maypole at our annual Mayfest) has persuaded Pat to join us and teach the dance to teachers and any other interested parties in order that they may, in turn, enthuse and teach further generations of youngsters this gentle and historic art.

Learning the dance at Kelham. Photo by Vikki Appleton Fielden

Learning the dance at Kelham. Photo by Vikki Appleton Fielden

Sunday 13 April 2003

Kelham Island Industrial Museum
Alma Street
Sheffield
S3 8RY

1.00 pm to 4.00 pm

Free of charge

The dance needs sixteen dancers, so that would be the optimum group size. Contact Ron Day for further details or to book a place:

ronaldday@btinternet.com

0114 247 0099

or complete our registration form and send it to

South Riding Folk Network
Maypole Dancing
24 Chapel Street
Mosborough
Sheffield
S20 5BT

The form is in printable pdf format, which requires Adobe Acrobat Reader. If you don't already have it as a browser-plugin or standalone program, it can be downloaded free of charge from http://www.adobe.co.uk/.

Location: Scaleable map

This event is sponsored by the South Riding Folk Network and the English Folk Dance and Song Society.

4th March 2003

For some interesting material on the Maypole and other May Day customs, see the online facsimile of Chambers Book of Days (1879) at the University of Wisconsin-Madison Library website:

First of May

There's a charming 1882 picture book by Gertrude Angela Mary Konstam at Digitale Bibliothek Braunschweig: Kinderbücher:

The Maypole. (Come lasses and lads. An old English ballad).

The following article appeared in the Sheffield Star (Martin Dawes' Diary pages) on Monday 3 March 2003:

Keeping the maypole dance going around

Maypole dancing. Photo courtesy of the Sheffield Star

City teachers are being asked to answer a May Day call to revive the lost art of maypole dancing.

For the second year running the Mayfest at Kelham Island Museum will be without the traditional maypole unless the organisers can recruit a team of 16 girls or young women.
Until last year they'd always had a team from Blackburn Primary School, near Rotherham, trained by teacher Pat Roberts.
Now she's retired and is reluctant to take on the reponsibilities heaped upon adults in charge of children these days.
Instead, she's promised to lead a maypole dancing teach-in for teachers in April in the hope that they will train their own pupils.

So how easy is it?

"There's a limited number of permutations you can do with braids (ribbons) on the pole, two easy and two more difficult," says Pat.
"But if you get it wrong the whole world knows about it!"
Or, as Ronald Day, treasurer of the South Riding Folk Network, which is organising the event, supported by the English Folk Dance and Song Society, puts it: "It's a dance of two halves.
"It's a fairly gentle art. The object is to produce an even and attractive braiding of the pole then to reverse the process without getting into a knot."

It seems the art has died out in Sheffield schools. Ronald put out an appeal last year with not one response.

Pat has been teaching maypole dancing for 30 years after a previous head asked her to learn.
"There were other schools once but they seem to have dropped out," she says.

No one knows how old the tradition is.
Traditional colours of the braids were white, yellow and green although other colours are now added.

One problem is that the art needs 16 dancers and it's hard to get that many children in a group activity these days.
But she's hopeful. "If things go wrong you have to shout 'stop'. In other dancing if things go wrong people don't notice!"

The teach-in is at Kelham Island Museum, Alma Street, on Sunday 13 April . It's free. To reserve a place call Ronald on 0114 247 0099 or e-mail ronaldday@btinternet.com

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