What is maypole dancing?

Question:

What is maypole dancing?

Best Answer - Chosen by Asker: MYPOLE DANCING-

It's kind of hard to explain, but I'll try my best. Ribbons are attached to a pole and dancers, usually kids, go up to the pull and grap a ribbon and then proceed to weave in and out of each other to create a may pole. In the end, it looks like basket weaving on a pole. It's called maypole dancing because on May Day, people in the Middle Ages would have a festival and do the MayPole dance.

The first kind of maypole dancing is probably extremely ancient and is thought by some to have Germanic pagan fertility symbolism, although there is a frustrating lack of evidence to support this conjecture. It is traditionally performed in the spring around the festival of May Day, but in Sweden it is during the midsummer festivities.

The second kind of maypole dancing originates in the 18th century, derived from traditional and 'art' dance forms popular in Italy and France. These were exported to the London stage and reached a large audience, becoming part of the popular performance repertoire. Adopted at a large teacher training institution, the ribbon maypole dance then spread across most of central and southern England and is now regarded as the most 'traditional' of May Day's traditional characteristics.-