Decentring the Maypole: Maypole Dances in England 1600-1900

The image of a maypole, surrounded by dancers weaving a pattern with long ribbons, is iconic to modern English expectations of maypole dances. This was not always the case, however, and the inclusion of handheld ribbons radically refocused the dance for dancers and audience members alike. The evolution of ribbons from a passive decorative feature to an expected component of modern maypole dance repertoire suggests a choreographic reprioritisation. This paper explores the connection between maypole dance’s reframing as a display dance and the predominance of ribboned dances - to the detriment of past ribbonless repertoire. The how, why, and when of ribbons’ active inclusion in maypole dances has been only briefly explored in academia, though their inclusion represents a massive alteration in the technique, practice, and experience of the dance. Though the maypole has long been at the centre of maypole dances physically, the inclusion of ribbons as a significant element decentred the maypole conceptually. Focusing on maypole dance’s evolution from the seventeenth to nineteenth centuries, the results of ribbon’s inclusion are detailed and analysed with a particular focus on choreography, experience and intent.

Bryony May Kummer-Seddon is a lecturer, artist, and theatre practitioner. She is currently undertaking a PhD in Performing Arts at the University of Lincoln. She has taught theatre design internationally and has previously presented on this topic at the Prague Quadrennial. Formerly the Head of the Technical Theatre Department at Edna Manley College of the Visual and Performing Arts (Jamaica) she helped arrange the 2017 Rex Nettleford International Conference. Coming from a foundation of design and experimental performance, her practice has expanded into the areas of history, heritage, and dance. Inspired by her personal experience of dancing the maypole as a child, maypole traditions are now her primary research focus. At present, her principal area of study is her thesis which is entitled: Maypole Dancing as Microcosm: Performing Politics, Moralities and Identities in Seventeenth-Century England.