The Royal Lancers won’t have to put away their dancing shoes just yet.
City officials recently met with some of the Royal Lancers to discuss ways of modernizing the dances between the lancers and girls in the May Queen suite at the May Day banquet.
“I think we have come to a nice compromise for it,” said Mayor Wayne Wright. “There will be some changes to modernize the dance and using the young lads – the knights – in a more significant way. I think that’s going to put that to bed for this year.”
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 long-standing tradition, Puchmayr said he’s hearing more and more criticisms about the dance and understands it makes some people uncomfortable.
The Royal Lancers, which is comprised of men who have been active volunteers in the community and longtime residents, and girls in the May Queen Suite practise the traditional English dances three times and then dance at the May Day banquet held on the evening of the festivities in Queen’s Park.
Wright said a few changes will be introduced this year, including giving the Royal Knights more of a role at the banquet. Some people had expressed concerns that the boys sat on the floor while the girls in the May Queen Suite danced with the lancers at the banquet.
“They will be doing the reels or the square dance,” Wright said of the Royal Lancers. “I am pretty sure they are not doing the waltz. There is a different format for them walking in. There is a format of where they will sit, and the rest of their participation.”
Wright anticipates that further changes will be made to the Royal Lancers' role at the banquet in future years.
Wright said changes are being introduced in response to comments from community members.
“The concern is that the times have changed and maybe the tradition should be modernized – making sure that it fits with society today,” he said. “Everything has been a certain way. That is what we are looking at. We want it to be a positive thing. I can assure you if this wasn’t something that was brought up – to everyone on council by different groups – we wouldn’t be spending time on it. It’s sensitive and you want to do it properly.”
Dean Gibson, the city’s director of parks, culture and recreation, said staff have been working with the Royal Lancers, as well as volunteer coordinators of the May Queen Suite and the Royal Knights. The traditional folk dances between the Royal Lancers and the girls in the May Queen Suite will continue as in past years, but there may be changes to the march in and march out procession at the banquet, with the Royal Knights taking part – something that didn’t’ occur in past years.
Gibson said this year’s banquet will be a “transitional year” and additional changes could be incorporated in future years. He said the city and the school district are interested in making changes to ensure May Day is “child focused.”
A representative of the Royal Lancers didn’t return calls to The Record by deadline.
