Caribbean Maypole dancing

With a complete change of style and music, I now take you to the Caribbean.

I don't yet know the origins of this Cuban dance, but it involves some moves that are not seen in the classic British dances. Possible some Spanish origins? (Haven't yet found any Spanish dances, but will start looking)

"" (Watch on YouTube)

Grenada next - not nearly as good as the Cuban dancers. This one shows strong English influence in the dance moves.

"" (Watch on YouTube)

Jamaica - this performance was done by a group of teachers for Jamaica day and is pure English in the moves. (English school teachers probably took the tradition over originally, but it's now regarded as a traditional Jamaican dance)

"" (Watch on YouTube)

I've also found one from Nicaragua, but it was just a basic plait.

Maypole - with morris sticks!

 I really wasn't going to post any more maypole dances today, because I thought you'd be sick to death of them, but I've started work on a group of dances with Spanish ancestry (looking quite different - on  the basis of the ones I've found so far - to the Portuguese ones)

Just look at this one from the Dominican Republic.  How could any self-respecting morris dancer not post this one!

"" (Watch on YouTube)

I think there may possibly be an overlap with mattachine traditions here, but the explanation as to why this is possible is far to long to go into here.

More maypole

I've started work on the French and Italian dances, but still a way to go there.

In the meantime, here is the most joyous dance I've found yet. It's just a simple plait, but it's wonderful. It's from a Portuguese speaking area (possibly, but not definitely, Brazil.)

The Brazilian (and Cuban) dances are the most 'living tradition' I've yet found.

Look at this, and then compare with the French dance that follows.

"" (Watch on YouTube)

The French dance is frozen in the past.  It's danced with precision, but I'm not seeing joy there.

"" (Watch on YouTube)

Looking at the French dance moves and the general style, it's very clear where the English maypole tradition was taken from.  Definitely from France.  (I've seen one or two web pages that say France or Italy, but the only Italian dances I have so far have stylistic differences.

If there's interest, I'll start breaking down what I consider the stylistic details of each tradition.