Portales High students carry on Maypole tradition

Their faces read concentration as they completed box and cross steps. Some Portales High School students moved like robots and others flowed like the bright dresses that twirled around the 18-foot poles.

Christina Calloway: Portales News-Tribune

Portales High School students rehearsed their Maypole ceremonies Wednesday evening in the Ram Athletic Center. Students twirled streamers around an 18-foot pole upholding a 84-year-old tradition.

Perhaps the nervousness reflected the pressure Portales High School students felt of an 84-year tradition upon them as they rehearsed Wednesday evening in the Portales High School gymnasium for Maypole ceremonies.

The Maypole ceremony is at 8 p.m. today at the Portales High School gymnasium.

For some students, the importance of Maypole ceremonies at PHS has been embedded in them since childhood.

Other students are participating in the ceremony as the first representative of their family to do so.

Students agree that they have a lot of expectations to live up or "dance up" to.

"It's a tradition and it has a lot of meaning," said PHS senior Russell Van Dam. "I don't want to mess up because we'd be the first out of 84 classes to do so."

Senior Luke Rankin lived in Miami before moving to Portales for about a year, so the Maypole ceremonies are new to him.

He mastered his dance steps through 10 weeks of practice. He says the box step requires eight steps and the cross step is more complicated because he has a better chance of tripping.

Christina Calloway: Portales News-Tribune

Portales High School students have practiced their dance steps for Maypole for 10 weeks. They attempted to waltz perfectly Wednesday evening at the Maypole dress rehearsal.

Maypole queen Judy Hernandez didn't even plan on participating in the Maypole ceremonies, but she had a change of heart when a faculty member encouraged her to run for queen.

"She just inspired me," Hernandez said of PHS volleyball coach, Ruth Chavez. "She told me I could win."

Hernandez sat in an elegant white dress with her court on a stage Wednesday night overlooking the dancers.

Janeth Marquez, a member of Hernandez' court, was excited to see the dance finally take place with her fellow students decked out in formal wear.

"My favorite part is watching everyone else dance because it's so cute," Marquez said. "There is a lot of pressure about the dance because parents come expecting it to be very nice and we know we have to do a good job to show them we can do this."

Marquez and the Portales community watched as students twirled around the pole. When the winding around the pole was complete, the streamers fluttered to the ground and then the pairs joined again to dance.

Raaven Howard and Mark Apodaca made up one of the student pairs. Howard said she asked Apodaca to be her partner for the Maypole in the seventh grade.

"It feels good to finally dance but a little weird because I never waltzed before," Howard said.

Maypole, a tradition that originated from European countries in the 16th century, was intended as a symbol of fertility. Brought to Portales in 1929 by Varnell McCall, it symbolizes a community tradition and a rights of passage ceremony for high school seniors, parents said.