3b. The Dance Goes On!

The logistics for doing our May Pole dance have become routine as we have a permanent hole in the Commons to insert our pole in after we strip it of last year’s weavings. Our ability to perform the dance that produces a finely woven pole does not seem to improve from year to year, but that does not dampen our enthusiasm or enjoyment of doing the dance. The challenge may be related to including small children and tall adults that tend to create frequent entanglements.

One year the rain was too heavy to do the dance outdoors, so we decided to do it in the barn. Since we did not have a hole to put the pole in, Fred stood and held the pole upright while the rest of us danced around the pole and accomplished our usual entanglements. There is a consistency in our weaving pattern from year to year. At the top of the pole, there is no semblance of a weave pattern, but about a third of the way down the pole, the weave pattern begins and usually continues evenly until we finish at about waist height. What does change from year to year is the background music for the dance.

When we first started doing the dance, we used taped music with amplification. We now bring in professional musicians who stay after our potluck dinner and perform for us as we set up the dining room for dancing. Last year we had a Blue Grass musical group called Squirrel Butter play for us.