The Royal Lancers may have danced their last dance.
At the yearly May Day banquet that takes place on the evening after the day's festivities in Queen's Park, the Royal Lancers dance with girls in the May Queen suite.
On Monday, council approved a motion to send a letter to all members of the Royal Lancers and invite them to have a discussion with council about modernizing the lancers dances performed at the banquet. If efforts to hold a meeting are unsuccessful, council would indicate there would be no lancers dance in 2014 and would encourage a future discussion of the program for next year.
The Royal Lancers - who are made up of men who have been active volunteers in the community and longtime residents, including former city councillors - and girls in the May Queen Suite practise the traditional English dances several times prior to May Day. For some girls, it is a memory they cherish for years to come.
But not everyone is keen about the traditional dance between men and much younger girls.
Last July, council approved a motion by Coun. Chuck Puchmayr to enter into discussions about modernizing the Royal Lancers' dance at the annual May Queen dinner. While some people support the longstanding tradition, Puchmayr said he's hearing more and more criticisms about the dance.
"It does raise an eyebrow," he said of the dance. "It makes some people uncomfortable."
Many of the people who are involved in the longstanding tradition can't fathom why it has generated any concerns.
"The girls love it. That's the thing - if you ask most girls, they have such a fun time doing it. It is very elegant. The men are in their tuxes; the girls are in their dresses," a former May Queen recently told The Record. "It's like a square dance with four girls and four men in one square. It's an old English dance. They do formations. There are four steps to the dance. It is a complicated dance to learn."
