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Have you ever watched
dancers around a Maypole? Some of the dances are simple, some complex, some of
the dancers are laughing and lighthearted, and others are dark, serious, and
stately. Regardless of the style of dance or dancers a pattern emerges as with
the ribbons as the dance goes on. Some of the steps taken give no clue as to
the final pattern—they seem almost hit and miss—but they’re a work of beauty by
the end.
See, dancing the Maypole
is not just about the joy of the dance. Part of the motivation in dancing is in
the creating of a complex pattern with the ribbons to wrap the pole. The final
pattern woven stems from the movement and direction of each dancer. It looks
effortless (and it’s supposed to) but the maypole is wrapped and unwrapped
many, many times in practice to get the final combination of steps and
corresponding end pattern.
The finished pattern on
the maypole depends upon several things. The height of the maypole and those of
the inner or minor dancers who dance their own patterns while interacting with
the outer dancers, the pace and flow of the dancers, the texture of the ribbon
material and the spacing of the colors. You may only catch glimpses of the
inner circle’s dancers yet they’re all part of the dance. Sometimes the dancers
have to reverse themselves a bit and then weave forward again. While dancing they
may take the proper steps and yet they won’t know how successful they've been,
with setting the pattern, until they’re finished and step back and look at
their completed work. It soon becomes apparent when the pacing of the dance was
off or someone forgot a step because it shows up in the finished pattern.
It’s similar to writing
a story. We start out with all sorts of bright ideas. We have lots of ribbons
available to weave our story. Now comes the dancing and weaving. We know the
basic storyline—that’s our bare pole. We determine the height and breath of our
story. Then are the minor characters and the major characters. Their
personalities add texture and color to the story. The pacing, tension, and flow
adds a different sort of feel to the overall story pattern—it could make the
story light and bubbly or austere, dark and dangerous, or it could be the
weaving of both. Sometimes we have to 
I have several ‘wrapped’
maypoles. I’m looking at the final patterns. Some are too bland in the
color/texture choices. Nothing stands out and while the pattern is pretty it
lacks that wow factor. I’m going to have to unwrap the pole and add some
different ribbon textures and color to the weave of the story. Sometimes I get
frustrated because while it started out fine and the dancing was fun when I
step back and looked at the overall pattern it’s too jumbled.
Smacks forehead...What was I
thinking ?
