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maypole |
Also found in: Dictionary/thesaurus, Wikipedia, Hutchinson | 0.03 sec. |
maypoleTall wooden pole garlanded with flowers and greenery and often hung with ribbons that are woven into complex patterns by dancers in a ceremonial folk dance. The custom probably originated in ancient fertility rites that involved dancing around a living tree in the springtime. In many European countries, notably England, the pole is set up on May 1 as part of May Day festivities. Similar ribbon dances were performed in India and in pre-Columbian Latin America. How to thank TFD for its existence? Tell a friend about us, add a link to this page, add the site to iGoogle, or visit webmaster's page for free fun content. |
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Buoyed by a renewed interest at the end of the nineteenth century in the healthfulness of fresh air and exercise, higher education began to include gymnastics and "aesthetic dancing" (such as around maypoles or in free-flowing draperies). 64) Nor does the social regimentation and discipline entailed by this work ethic aim at stamping out folk festivities and other manifestations of the popular carnivalesque spirit; the Irish tracts do not attack the Hibernian equivalents of Maypoles and Church ales. |
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