INDEPENDENCE CELEBRATIONS have come and gone and I haven't heard a word of complaint to the Broadcasting Commission about all of the sexually suggestive dances that were on display throughout the Festival season. So I called the complaints manager at the commission just to make sure. As I suspected, there was not a complaint. I suppose 'cultural' gyrating is not quite as filthy as the more popular kind.

As part of the Independence festivities, the Jamaica Cultural Development Commission, in association with the Jamaica Library Service, put on an excellent symposium on "The Impact of Cultural Policies and Cultural Changes on Jamaica's Development Since 1962."

There was an informative exhibition of cultural texts, including a video of the 2008 "Mello-Go-Roun'" concert that had been broadcast on TV. It features children doing folk dances, like gerreh, maypole, ettu and revival.

vulgar 'slackness'

I couldn't help noticing how similar in spirit some of these dances are to what is now labelled in current dancehall slang as 'daggerin.' I know that costumes have a way of concealing the genealogy of dance moves - from folk to popular. Long skirts and head ties instantly signal respectable 'folk culture.' Barely dressed bodies in the dancehall signify vulgar 'slackness'. But if you look carefully, it's all more or less the same body language.

Watching the 'Mello-Go-Roun' video, I had a vague memory that the Broadcasting Commission's new regulations forbid the broadcasting of programmes that show children performing sexually suggestive dances. So I double-checked. Here's what the directive of February 20, 2009, says: "There shall not be transmitted on television or cable any live or recorded coverage of shows, dances or events, which include the participation of children in activities that publicly display or simulate sexual activities or positions, whether in street parade, stage shows, or at any other event intended for adults."

There's not going to be easy consensus on what, exactly, are simulated sexual activities or positions. For some of us, vigorous pelvic gyrations suggest sexual activity. For others, they do not. But most of us would, I think, agree that social dancing is often vertical foreplay - both rent-a-tile and hardcore wining. Similarly, many 'folk' dances are all about sex, for example, maypole dancing, one of the stock elements of our Festival dance repertoire for children.

Fertility Rites

Now I don't want to spoil the maypole dance for those trusting souls who think of the pole simply as an essential accessory for an innocent dance in which children display their skill at intertwining colourful ribbons. If you think of the common Jamaican metaphor for penis, you will immediately know what the wood of the maypole stands for.

Noting that there are "two distinctive traditions," Wikipedia gives a brief history of the maypole dance which "began in ancient Babylon during sex worship and fertility rites. A carved upright representation of the human penis was danced around by young females and woven with ribbons to ensure offspring. There is a lack of evidence to support this view, however".

Despite the lack of hard "evidence," it doesn't take a lot of imagination to see the maypole as a phallic symbol. Just like the dancehall dagger. The online Encyclopaedia Britannica defines maypole dances as "survivals of ancient dances around a living tree as part of spring rites to ensure fertility".

A Wikipedia cross-reference confirms the sexual symbolism of maypole dancing in Sweden where it is performed on Midsummer's day: "The ring dancing is mostly popular with small children. The central part played by young children in the celebration emphasises the procreation aspect of the celebration. Yet another pointer in this direction is the custom that young maidens expect to dream of their future mate if they pick flowers and place them under their pillow when they go to bed on this day only."

Blissful ignorance

The other maypole tradition, according to Wikipedia, "Originates in the 18th century, derived from traditional and 'art' dance forms popular in Italy and France. These were exported to the London stage and reached a large audience, becoming part of the popular performance repertoire. Adopted at a large teacher-training institution, the ribbon maypole dance then spread across most of central and southern England and is now regarded as the most 'traditional' of May Day's traditional characteristics."

It is this castrated maypole that would have been exported to Jamaica. The maypole dance stepped up in life when it moved from the ground to the stage and became 'art.' Purged of its 'pagan' associations, it was also Christianised, just like Christmas. The 25th of December corresponds with the date of ancient festivities marking the rebirth of the sun. The early Christians cleverly adapted the rituals of their converts so that everybody was happy.

It's a pity we're not as sophisticated these days. For we would then be able to see the deep-rooted connections between maypole dancing, carnival bacchanal and dancehall 'daggerin.' All of these dances are about sex and procreation. Ettu and gerreh, too, are erotic funeral dances that celebrate life in death.

But, of course, accepting all of this would make the work of the Broadcasting Commission so much harder. We would have to ask ourselves some really difficult questions about cultural change and development. Will today's base 'slackness' become tomorrow's upright 'culture'? Should we stop broadcasting shows with children doing the maypole dance? Perhaps, ignorance of cultural history really is bliss.

Carolyn Cooper is professor of literary and cultural studies at the University of the West Indies, Mona. Send feedback to columns@gleanerjm.com.