What does TOMORROW SHALL BE MY DANCING DAY Mean?

Last Monday, Stu Oskamp took me aside to discuss the possible meanings of TOMORROW SHALL BE MY DANCING DAY. As you probably already know, the John Gardner version we're singing on this concert is a contemporary setting of a very old carol. (According to John Rutter, the text is from before the 17th century). It is, of course, poetry and as such invites each of us to form an interpretation. We post-scientific people are so conditioned to believe that the world exists in dualities - black/white, right/wrong, us/them (dare I add "red/blue???) - that it may feel threatening to us to wrestle with the ambiguity of art. But this text is layered with meaning, and I invite you to search for your own meanings.

One of choral music's lively web communities is www.choralnet.org. A Canadian choral director asked other choral musicians to submit their impressions of the words for this carol. Here are some of their ideas:

Tomorrow shall be my dancing day,
I think it's just about Jesus' impending birth.
I would my true love did so chance
or..."I hope the people on earth have taken the opportunity to...
to see the legend of my play,
"...understand the reason I'm coming,
to call my true love to my dance.
"...and have spoken to others about what my coming means."

From John Rutter~

The age-old relationship between religion and the dance is the source of the unusual and vivid imagery of this carol (which, in its complete form, has eleven verses covering all the events of Christ's life up to the Ascension).

This last one is referring to the traditional tune for the carol, but I think is still appropriate to the version by John Gardner:

I too have sung and conducted "Dancing Day". This is Jesus' reference to his birthday. According to Christmas Carol legend, all old carols that were written in 3/4 time were written as Creche dances. Today we call this Liturgical dance. As these carols were sung, people would dance around the creche or manger. This began in Germany. One of the most famous Creche songs is "Away in a Manger". Here in the states we tend to sing it in 3, but it really should be sung in a fast 1, so that it can be danced to while singing.

The page where you can read this - and more - is:
http://choralnet.org/resources/viewResource.phtml?id=1017&category=12