Thursday, May 1, 2014

Dancing Around the Maypole

The first day of May, traditionally, has been a celebration of spring.

No maypoles here in upstate New York that I know of.  No sunshine yesterday, either.  Rain and gloom ruled the day.  But we were so much luckier than others - record one day rain to the east and south of us, tremendous flooding in northwest Florida, a street collapse in Baltimore, and the out of whack weather punishes people around the world again and again.

I wish so we could send the rain to Wichita Falls, Texas.

But, somewhere, the sun is shining and people are dancing around maypoles.

I have vague memories of dancing around a maypole. It was probably at my elementary school in the Bronx, in New York City, where I grew up.  It may have even been something called Dance Festival.


In some parts of the world, maypole dancing is an art.

What is dancing around the maypole like? Well, it involves ribbons, dancers and some intricate steps.
Frilly costumes are optional.

What about us in upstate New York? It's foggy right now. The rain is supposed to clear out in the afternoon with temperatures reaching near 70F (21 C).




Is dancing on the first day of May part of your culture?
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6 comments:

  1. The Great GordinoMay 1, 2014 at 6:14 PM

    Hi Alana,
    Yes, it's been chucking it down here in the south east of Britain, but we've had a pretty mild time of it where I am with some lovely spring days, so musn't grumble! Funnily enouhg we have both written about May Day today, I bet we aren't the only ones! ;-)
    cheers, Gordon

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  2. Irene SohMay 1, 2014 at 6:50 PM

    That looks like one really FUN dance!!

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  3. Dr. K. Lee BanksMay 1, 2014 at 11:46 PM

    Dropping by from Facebook/UBC group - yeah, rainy and dreary today in Maine for most of the day, up until about mid-afternoon when the sun made a surprise appearance!

    The only dancing around a pole that happened here today was the cats on their favorite climbing post! ;-)

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  4. Francene StanleyMay 2, 2014 at 5:24 AM

    I'd give my front tooth to be able to dance around the maypole right now.
    The weather here in England is dull and overcast again. Because it's not actually raining, I hung some washing on the clothesline outside. The tiny breeze might dry them. But then, I'm an optimistic soul.

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  5. Sophie BownsMay 2, 2014 at 6:40 AM

    Beautiful- we had horrendous rain yesterday in the North West of England. Luckily, today the sun has got it's hat on and the weather looks far more promising.
    I've always wanted to dance around a maypole! It looks like fun!

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  6. joangogreenlivegreenMay 2, 2014 at 4:51 PM

    Hi Alana,

    Great post :) Thanks for sharing!!

    ReplyDelete

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