Desription/History:The maypole is a tall wooden pole erected to celebrate May Day or Midsummer. It is decorated with several long coloured ribbons suspended from the top. At the end of the ribbons are poses holding the ribbons (NOT ANIMATED) in which the dancers perform circle dances around the pole. The ribbons are intertwined around the pole. The dancers may then retrace their steps exactly in order to unravel the ribbons.
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 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.
