Maypole dancing was re-invented within the Victorian era as a convention for Church of England schools. This is the story …
May
In England, May is a beautiful month, with the beginning of excellent weather, blossom, bluebells, and white hawthorn flowering, and the birds are singing. The first day of May is named May Day. Since 1871, it had been a bank holiday in Scotland, and in 1978 it was prolonged to the entire of the United Kingdom. The May Day Bank Holiday, also called Early May Bank Holiday, falls on the primary Monday in May.
History
The origin of May Day celebrations is lost within the midst of time. A tall, thin, stripped tree or pole was a spotlight for celebration. Each May Day morning, it was the custom to deck the poles with wreaths of flowers, and native people would dance around it. It was often raucous, with a number of drinking.
How maypole dancing was banned
Maypole dancing was not popular with the Puritans. In 1644, the Puritan Parliament in London banned maypole dancing as “a Heathenish vanity, generally abused to superstition and wickedness.” In 1660, when the British monarchy was re-established under Charles II, maypoles were restored in lots of places. The tallest was erected within the Strand in London in 1661, which was 134 feet tall. Maypole dancing continued into Victorian times in a number of locations, but was a dying tradition.
Victorian renaissance
The modern renaissance of maypole dancing dates back to its romantic re-invention by London theatres in the course of the Victorian era. From 1836, the Old Vic had a choreographed maypole dance with colored ribbons on its stage. This was popular and copied across the country. From 1858, Chapino’s Juvenile Ballet Troupe connected to His Majesty’s Theatre toured the country with a maypole dance. The artistic dance created a multi-coloured braided pattern which crept steadily down the pole. They performed in lots of towns around England within the 1860s and 1870s, which led some villages to repeat the concept.
Whitelands College
In 1841, the Church of England’s National Society (now the Church of England Education Office) founded Whitelands teacher training college for girls. This was with a purpose to supply their growing network of Church of England primary schools. The college was originally based in Whitelands House on King’s Road in Chelsea, in London, which gave it its name. It was the primary British college of upper education to confess women. It moved in 1931 to Putney, and in 1965 became co-educational admitting men. It is now a part of the University of Roehampton.
John Ruskin
John Ruskin (1819-1900) was a Professor of Art at Oxford University. John’s mother Margaret Ruskin was an evangelical Christian who taught her son to read the Bible from start to complete and commit passages to memory. He returned to his childhood faith within the 1870s, and was a key character in British Christian socialism, (versus the atheist communism which developed individually elsewhere). About 1877, Ruskin became involved with Whitelands, through his friend, the Reverend Canon John Pincher Faunthorpe (1839-1924) who was College Principal for 33 years from 1874 to 1907
Maypole dancing for schools
Drawing on existing traditions, Ruskin encouraged maypole dancing as a part of non-competitive physical education. The idea was to develop self-confidence and team skills. The dances were to be efficiently put together and required co-operation and co-ordination, but were also fun. From 1881, maypole dancing was a part of the tradition at Whitelands College. It included an annual festival, which continues to be held today, which the enthroning of a May Queen (now they’ve a May King as well), presided over by a visiting Anglican bishop.
Maypole dances typically consisted of pairs of girls and boys standing alternately across the base of the pole, and every holding the top of a ribbon. They then weave in and around one another, with the boys moving into one direction and the women going the opposite. The ribbons are woven together across the pole in a pattern, until the dancers meet at base of the pole. These structured dances were a re-invention of maypole dancing with little in common with the traditional version of the custom.
Christian symbolism
The maypole dance could be seen to be symbolic of the Christian life. The maypole represents Christianity firmly secured in God, pointing as much as heaven and reaching down through Jesus. The dances symbolise how Christ weaves the threads of our lives right into a tapestry, which isn’t apparent until the top, and all those that hold on tirelessly to the top can be saved. The different colored ribbons which weave together a pattern, symbolise how Christians although different are united in diversity. Now stripped of any pagan elements, maypole dancing was suitable for Church of England schools and Anglican school fetes.
How maypole dancing was popularised
The women teachers (then called school mistresses) from Whitelands went out to show across England, and in addition into the British Empire. These teachers introduced maypole dancing to their Anglican schools as a form activity suitable for Christian children. As the concept grew in popularity, so enthusiasts began to develop latest dances, and other schools also adopted it. Some schools still do maypole dancing, although the May Day heyday was within the interwar years, but it could actually be sometimes seen at English rural village events and celebrations. Some schools use the dance as a part of Pentecost, which frequently falls in May.
May Day and St Joseph
The English May Day has no connection to International Worker’s Day also called Labour Day (or spelt Labor Day within the USA). In response, Pope Pius XII declared 1st May as Saint Joseph the Worker in 1955. This recalls St Joseph the carpenter and foster father of Jesus.
