Traditional Folk Forms – Maypole Competition: What It Is, Where It’s Run and How It’s Judged

A staged ribbon-plaiting dance for twelve to sixteen dancers around a tall pole, judged on plaiting technique, precision and traditional content, with recorded mento-rhythm music; the handbook allows six minutes while the template records four.

Traditional Folk Forms – Maypole is the seventy-eighth entry on the Jamaican national performing arts festival template and the eleventh of the seventeen items in its Traditional Folk Forms discipline. Unlike most of its neighbours it is not a drum-and-spirit ritual: it is a pattern dance in which a company of dancers weaves coloured ribbons around a pole, and the picture the ribbons make is as much the performance as the footwork.

The festival handbook describes the dance as the plaiting of different coloured ribbons showing three basic traditional patterns. It starts with the grand chain, also called the basket weave, wrapping the ribbons around the pole from the top. The plaiting then continues away from the pole as a three-plait or four-plait braid, depending on the number of dancers, and ends with the cobweb plait before the full unplaiting takes place. Other patterns may be explored for creativity and originality, provided the three basic patterns are there.

The company is twelve to sixteen dancers. The handbook allows a mixed-gender group with equal numbers of males and females, an all-female group or an all-male group, and does not allow one gender to stand in for another, so a girl may not dance a boy’s part or the reverse. The pole is 8 to 12 feet high and 3 inches thick, with coloured ribbon 2 inches wide: 12 feet long for Class 1 and 13 to 15 feet for every other class. Getting the pole, the ribbon lengths and the number of dancers right before the day is part of the entry.

Maypole is one of only two folk forms the handbook accompanies with recorded music. Recorded mento music is usual, and groups may choose other music so long as it has a mento rhythm, whereas the other traditional dances must have live musicians. The handbook time limit is six minutes, the longest of any item in the folk forms discipline. Organisers run it because it is a clean, visual, easily judged item that younger classes can enter, and because the plaiting is a precise test of teamwork.

Where Traditional Folk Forms – Maypole is run

On eTalenter this item is used in one template, the Jamaican national performing arts festival template, where it is a Traditional Folk Forms category assigned to all seven classes, Class 1 up to Class 6 (adults) plus the combined Class 7. The handbook table also lists it for Classes 1 to 7 and does not bar the youngest classes from it. The festival runs in three stages, parish auditions, parish finals and national finals, and only the top gold-medal group per class and category in a parish moves on. The pole and ribbon dance is staged here as a competition piece; the handbook does not tie it to any one parish in its list of primary folk forms by region.

• Jamaica (the national performing arts festival the template is built from)

Key facts

• Team entry, both genders together, in English; assigned on the template to Classes 1 to 6 and the combined Class 7, with no class bar in the handbook
• The template records a four-minute window with the warning bell at three minutes, scored out of 100. The handbook gives six minutes for Maypole in both its category table and its explanatory note, so set the time limit in the template to match the rule before the first round
• 12 to 16 dancers: mixed gender with equal numbers of males and females, all female or all male, and no gender substitution
• Pole 8 to 12 feet high and 3 inches thick; ribbon 2 inches wide, 12 feet long for Class 1 and 13 to 15 feet for all other classes
• Three basic patterns are expected: the grand chain or basket weave, a three- or four-plait braid, and the cobweb plait, followed by the full unplaiting
• Ideas, not rules, for a staged piece: make the basket weave the opening, vary the speed of the braid so the ribbons are tight on the beat, and plan the unplaiting so every dancer finishes facing the front. Check the choice against the rules and the organiser before rehearsing it

On eTalenter, Traditional Folk Forms – Maypole is filed under On Stage and typically scored with Marks. It appears in 1 ready-made event templates — each one can adjust its time limit, age-group assignment and scoring setup independently.

Across the templates that use it, Traditional Folk Forms – Maypole is most often entered as an Team competition, typically scored out of 100, commonly time-limited to around 4 minutes where a limit is set.

What judges look at in Traditional Folk Forms – Maypole

What a Traditional Folk Forms – Maypole panel is actually weighing up, and where the marks are usually won or lost:

• The handbook gives Maypole its own marking table, separate from the one used for the other folk forms, with nine headings worth 100 at parish auditions, 100 at parish finals and 50 at the national finals. The points below follow that table and are a summary, not a quotation of the rule
• Plaiting technique and originality carry the most: 25 at auditions, 20 at parish finals and 8 of 50 at the national finals. The panel looks at whether the three basic patterns are woven cleanly, with tidy braids and no loose ribbons, and whether any extra pattern adds something without replacing the basics
• Precision (10, 10 and 5 of 50) and uniformity and style (10, 10 and 5): dancers who step in the same direction at the same moment, hold the ribbon at the same height and keep even tension on the pole. One dancer who crosses the wrong way breaks the pattern for the whole company
• Traditional content (10, 10 and 5) and form and style (10, 10 and 8): a piece that stays recognisably a maypole dance, with mento-rhythm music, rather than a general ribbon routine
• Dance content and movements and steps (10 each at auditions and parish level, 5 each at nationals): the footwork between and around the plaits, which should keep a lively mento feel instead of walking through the pattern
• Costuming (5, 10 and 4) and presentation (10, 10 and 5): clothing that suits the form and does not tangle in the ribbons, a confident entrance, and a finish with the ribbons fully unplaited within the time limit

Treat these as the judging focus, not a fixed rubric: publish your own weighted criteria for Traditional Folk Forms – Maypole under Scoring Setup, or start from the full folk dance judging criteria guide.

How to prepare for Traditional Folk Forms – Maypole

How entrants and their teachers usually get Traditional Folk Forms – Maypole right on the day:

• Start with the rules: confirm the class, the number of dancers, the pole height and the ribbon length for that class, and the time limit, and plan inside them
• Teach the three basic patterns separately before joining them. The grand chain, the braid and the cobweb each need their own rehearsals, with the dancers numbered so everyone knows their strand
• Number the ribbons and the dancers on the first day and keep the same positions. Swapping places mid-rehearsal is the commonest cause of tangles
• Practise the unplaiting as hard as the plaiting. The handbook expects the full unplaiting, and a group that runs out of time part-way through it will lose precision marks
• Rehearse with the actual music from the start. A piece set to a mento rhythm has a clear beat, and plaiting in time with it is what lifts a clean performance above a merely tidy one
• Check the pole in the venue if possible: a pole that wobbles or a base that slides in front of the judges ruins the picture, so bring a stable stand and test it with the full company
• After the result, ask for the adjudicator comments and find which heading lost marks. If plaiting technique was low, drill the patterns without music for a week; if precision was low, rehearse with a caller counting the figures

Frequently asked questions

Is Traditional Folk Forms – Maypole judged individually or as a team?

Across eTalenter’s templates it’s most often run as an Team entry, though an organiser can set either participation type when assigning the item to an age group.

What is the Maypole dance in a folk forms competition?

It is a staged dance in which twelve to sixteen dancers plait coloured ribbons around a pole to show the grand chain or basket weave, a three- or four-plait braid and the cobweb plait, then unplait them, to recorded music with a mento rhythm.

How long is a Maypole entry?

The festival handbook allows six minutes. The template records four minutes with a warning at three, so confirm the limit with entrants and adjust the template if you follow the handbook.

Does Maypole need live musicians?

No. The handbook says the musical accompaniment for Quadrille and Maypole is recorded music, while the other traditional dances need live music. For Maypole the music should have a mento rhythm.

Can boys and girls dance together in Maypole?

Yes, with equal numbers of males and females, or the group may be all female or all male. The handbook does not allow one gender to be substituted for another.

Can primary classes enter Maypole?

Yes. The handbook lists Maypole for Classes 1 to 7 and does not bar the youngest classes, and the template assigns it to all seven. Class 1 uses a shorter ribbon of 12 feet.

Want the full judging picture? Read the full folk dance judging criteria guide, or browse every on stage competition item.