May Pole Tradition Weaves Together Past and Present

A rainbow of ribbons swirled in the air and around the May Pole in Taylor Gymnasium as second-grade students in Erin Correa’s class commemorated May Day with the time-honored tradition, the May Pole Assembly.

During the Friday morning meeting time, parents of the second-grade students were welcomed into the gym along with the rest of Lower School community. Director of Lower School Lorri Carroll greeted all guests and spoke on how this was the first in-person May Pole assembly in a few years and the students were enthusiastic to share this custom with an audience.

Under the direction of Physical Education teachers and coaches Mark McEachern and Brendan Moran, the students began their performance with a series of choreographed dances. Dressed in their best spring clothes, the students were split into groups of two and stood in a uniformed lined. As the music began, the duos performed the Virginia Reel, a quick-step dance followed by the Grand March.

“The dances the students perform look very simple, but are complicated,” commented Mr. McEachern. “We spent the last several weeks practicing in gym class and they are an impressive bunch.”

Transitioning to the next dance, all the students gathered around the May Pole, which was decorated with ribbons in every color of the rainbow with a crown of flowers at the very top. Grabbing the ribbons attached to the pole, the students began skipping around the pole intertwining the ribbons with their duo partner in an under/over movement. As Mr. McEachern continued the number count – which ultimately reached 80 – the ribbons made a tied pattern going down the pole and the motion was continued until the ribbons became too short.

The show concluded with Mrs. Carroll inviting the parents down to the floor to perform the final dance, the heel toe swivel. The students and their parents stood in a line as they clicked their heels three times then their heels before moving down the line to a new partner. Following the assembly, the second-grade students and their parents walked over to the cafeteria for refreshments.

The May Pole Assembly has been a long-standing custom at Hamden Hall for 50 years. It began in the early 1970s in conjunction with students learning about Colonial Williamsburg in their unit of study. The theme of the assembly changes each year as the celebration of spring continues.