Dance history constantly reminds us of a crucial motto: “We Know Nothing.” This holds particularly true when exploring the connections between dance history and diverse cultural practices. A prime example is the Maypole Dance, often perceived as a purely European tradition, evoking images of quaint, orderly, and distinctly white festivities. While maypole dances are indeed a part of European folk tradition and have even graced ballets like Marius Petipa’s “Swan Lake” and Frederick Ashton’s enchanting “La Fille mal gardée,” limiting our understanding to this view obscures a richer, more complex global history.
For years, the intricate maypole dance in Ashton’s “La Fille mal gardée,” with its dancers gracefully weaving and unwinding patterns, seemed the pinnacle of maypole artistry. However, the annual Dance Africa festival at the Brooklyn Academy of Music offers a vital counter-narrative. In 2011, Ballet Folklórico Cutumba from Santiago de Cuba presented a maypole dance that dramatically expanded this perspective. Unlike typical European versions with two groups moving in opposite directions, Cutumba’s performance featured three groups. The third group intricately interwove with the existing patterns at breathtaking speed and complexity. The knots formed appeared impossibly tangled, yet they magically unwound with equal speed and excitement. This performance redefined the maypole dance, making even Ashton’s beloved choreography appear simpler and less nuanced in comparison.
The origins and global spread of the maypole dance are shrouded in mystery. While some believe it originated in medieval Germany and spread through Europe, its presence extends far beyond. The maypole dance is recognized as the national dance of St Vincent in the Caribbean, reportedly introduced by enslaved people. Furthermore, maypole traditions exist in India, North Africa, and other regions. It’s plausible that African and Afro-Caribbean cultures adopted maypole dances from European sources, yet these traditions evolved in unique and often more complex directions.
The Cuban example from Dance Africa demonstrates that maypole dance has reached remarkable levels of sophistication outside of European ballet. Gia Kourlas, in her 2011 review of Dance Africa, perfectly captured this sentiment: “nothing was as magnificent as when the performers gracefully wove pieces of fabric around a maypole and then unraveled them. Darting, ducking and leaping, they seemed to be flying — an extraordinary physical feat and choreographed to perfection.” Exploring maypole dance reveals a multitude of dance histories, challenging us to look beyond Eurocentric narratives and appreciate the diverse evolutions of this seemingly simple, yet globally resonant, dance form.
