Entitled: "May pole dance, Central Park, New York." Maypole dancing is a form of folk dance from Germany, England, and Sweden. The most popular maypole dance consists of dancers that perform circle dances around a tall, garland-festooned pole (originally a live tree).The dancers move in a circle, each holding a colored ribbon attached to a much smaller pole. As they move around the pole, the dancers intertwine their ribbons either in a web around the pole or to plait it to the pole, itself. To unravel the ribbons, the dancers retrace their steps. Historians believe the first maypole dance originated as part of Germanic pagan fertility rituals. While dancers usually perform this dance in the spring on May 1 or May Day, those in Sweden perform it during their midsummer celebrations. Photographed by the Detroit Publishing Company, 1905.