UK artist Linett Kamala was astonished to see a maypole in a Jamaican hamlet \u2013 a colonial relic, but one bringing joy. So she reinvented the tradition by ditching English folk tunes and adding bass bins, LED lights and pounding beats<\/p>\n
In a community centre in London, a ping pong table, a treadmill and a row of computers hug the edges of the room. It all feels familiar, apart from the towering green structure with dangling multicoloured ribbons: a maypole, and we\u2019re here to dance around it. Our group of six circle it and get ready, but instead of traditional English folk music (\u201cAnd on that tree there was a limb, And on that limb there was a branch \u2026\u201d), it\u2019s dancehall, cranked up loud.<\/p>\n
This is a session courtesy of British-Jamaican DJ, artist and educator, Linett Kamala. She made her name as one of the first female DJs at Notting Hill carnival<\/a> in 1985 at just 15 years old, and is now on the event\u2019s board; as Lin Kam Art<\/a>, Kamala has dedicated much of her life to music, education, community work and art.<\/p>\n
![](\"https:\/\/i.guim.co.uk\/img\/media\/62952f6f35147f4b5d92b2cc4f13c903e38f867d\/483_163_2485_1988\/master\/2485.jpg?width=140&quality=85&auto=format&fit=max&s=b7347387d1af4e2a84395629046561f0\" "\\"Hey-nonny-bo!")
<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"