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250:, who announce the dance, engage the audience and most importantly, collect money from the onlookers. The performers are connected by short swords bearing two handles, with the handle on at least one end being fixed. The other handle is either fixed or swivelling, based on the preference of the rapper side. The flexible rapper swords form an unbroken chain connecting the dancers. The dance is related to the Long Sword dance of Yorkshire, as well as other
239:, but there is no available documentation to verify this theory. It seems that two factors have influenced interpretations of when the rapper sword was introduced: firstly, the relocation of a steel works operation by Ambrose Crowley to the Derwent Valley, before which time it is believed that suitable steel for flexible swords would most likely have been unavailable; and secondly, the prohibitive expense of such instruments before the
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452:(DERT) competition, which is open to all rapper sword teams, is held annually in a different UK city or town by a different Rapper side. The tournament initially comprised 3 divisions: Premier, Championship and Open, with a youth competition, 'DERTy', subsequently added. A further class, 'Traditional dance', was also introduced to highlight the original recorded dances and the style they were performed in.
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Scottish immigrants to
Tyneside in the nineteenth century. The music is usually performed solo, although it can be performed as a duet; however, rapper is not usually performed to a band. There is much controversy in the rapper community over the use of any form of percussion to accompany rapper beyond the rapper stepping included in the dance.
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coalfield. A team of
Tyneside Rovers were part of an early march on parliament in 1890, and another team from Hebburn were part of the famous Jarrow Crusade in 1936. Teams were also reported all over Durham and Northumberland as dancing out and collecting in the 1926 miners' strike and later in the Great Depression.
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to perform the dance for the crowds, asking for monetary consideration. This was later revived as a source of income during the miners' strikes and lay-offs, especially when the collieries were closed down over winter. Sword dancers of the North East were also active in the political struggles of the
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The dance has transformed as it moved into the twenty-first century: the pace has quickened and is performed at around 140–160 beats per minute, with different team styles using different rates. It is nonetheless typically performed in a smooth and graceful manner, with one figure flowing seamlessly
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At some stage in the nineteenth century, the rigid swords were replaced by flexible rappers in the coalfield. Very little is known about this major development in the tradition because of an absence of sufficient evidence, and it may have been entirely accidental. It used to be commonly thought that
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Leading exponents of the tradition in its traditional area include the High Spen Blue
Diamonds, the Newcastle Kingsmen, Monkseaton Morris Men, the Sallyport Sword Dancers and Star and Shadow. In addition to the Rapper Online website's list of rapper sword teams the Sword Dance Union has produced a
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coalfield in North-East
England. The dances derive from a well-defined geographical area with an intensity of activity traced to pits along both the Durham and Northumberland banks of the river Tyne, south into County Durham past Sunderland and along the Northumberland coast. The earliest definite
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of the
Yorkshire and rather than the rapper dance. A documented account of the Tyne Valley dance has been located in a 1715 article, in which a fairly accurate description can be read. Later references to sword dancing in the northern counties include a dance described in 1787 in the Cumberland
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tradition. The jigs used include local tunes and many instruments can, and have been, used to accompany rapper dances (the most popular being fiddles, tin whistles and accordions or melodeons). Many rapper jigs used for the last hundred years are tunes that were probably imported by Irish and
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The Rapper Online website provides information on the origins and history of the dance, team profiles and notations of traditional dances. Current and historical information is also available at "The NUT on the Net", the
Internet edition of "The NUT", the journal of the rapper sword dance.
318:), which subsequently spread beyond the traditional area. Revival teams worldwide now perform the rapper tradition, sometimes learned from published notations, sometimes taught by rapper dancers in what is almost a continuation of the earlier oral traditions.
314:, the tradition progressively declined in the original pit villages, partly as a result of social changes in the mining communities. However, another revival was initiated after the war, in 1949 by students at Kings College in Newcastle upon Tyne (now the
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Modern teams use a variety of kits, mostly based on the traditional costume, with each team using different combinations of colours to try to have a unique corporate image. Some other modern sides, especially women's sides, use very different kits.
351:
684:, attended DERT in 1996, 1999 and 2003. The DERT 2005 and 2006 competitions were attended by four teams from the United States, named, Newhaven, Candyrapper (2005), Beside the Point (2006) and Scrambled Six (2007). Red Mum Rapper from
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417:, with 'rapper crawls', often on Friday nights, providing an opportunity for the general public (including those who have little interest in folk dance traditions) to see the dance being performed.
380:(similar to breeks but shorter), or long trousers; and socks or stockings. Some traditional teams decorated their kit with ribbons or rosettes, and added a tie and/or waistcoat.
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sword dancing in
England dates back to an article in 1715 describing a dance in the Tyne Valley to the west of Newcastle upon Tyne. The dance described closely resembles
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The dance is now almost always performed to jigs (perhaps 90% of the time), with the normal form of rapper stepping being a form of shuffle imported from the local
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Performances in busy, noisy pubs in front of an audience which may not be familiar with the tradition provides an opportunity for the comic characters, the
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competed in DERTs 2013, 2014, 2016 and 2018. The Pocket Flyers (USA) attended DERT 2015 in
Bristol. Rapper teams also exist in Australia, Germany and the
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The dance requires five performers who co-ordinate themselves while using "rapper swords" made from flexible steel. Accompanied by
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Whilst substantial evidence for the origins of the rapper sword tradition does not exist, as of 2012, since the publication of
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into the next. A number of acrobatic figures can be employed, including forward and backward somersaults over the swords.
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By the early twentieth century, the tradition was beginning to die out, but was revived by the interest generated after
303:, the revival was marked by the fierce competition between pit villages in the rapper classes of the newly instituted
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664:. The DERT 2021 competition, due to be held in Edinburgh on 26–28 March 2021, was also cancelled due to COVID-19.
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by Phil Heaton it is generally accepted that the dance was originally performed in the mining villages of the
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342:(DERT) competition, and in recent years its American counterpart, Dancing America Rapper Tournament (DART).
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Packet newspaper of
January 1788, and a description from Teesdale in 1778, referenced by Hutchinson in his
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In modern times, the competitive element of rapper sword dancing has been revived in the form of the
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Unlike
Cotswold Morris and other forms of traditional dance, Rapper Sword is often performed inside
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Rapper dancing has gained international popularity. Jack The Rapper, based in
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Newcastle Kingsmen performing a rapper sword dance in a pub in Sidmouth, 2011
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published notations for five of the traditional village dances in his book,
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The costume in which the dance is usually performed, referred to as the
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The dance involves five people, with many including characters, such as
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in Europe. Some of the earliest teams used hornpipes, rather than the
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the flexible version was used for removing dirt from the backs of
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Newcastle Kingsmen, Sallyport Sword & Star and Shadow Rapper
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During the nineteenth century, teams of rapper dancers from the
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of Tyneside and Wearside would travel annually to the towns of
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Rapper: The Miners' Sword Dance of North-East England
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in 1855 that allowed steel to be made inexpensively.
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The Routledge Companion to English Folk Performance
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207:Rapper; The miner's Dance of North East England
660:In 2020, the competition was postponed due to
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724:Harrop, Peter; Roud, Steve (12 July 2021).
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111:Learn how and when to remove this message
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662:COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom
354:The Royal Earsdon sword dancers in 1910
875:Tom Besford; Tom Redman (7 May 2011).
307:held annually in Newcastle upon Tyne.
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297:The Sword Dances of Northern England
49:adding citations to reliable sources
975:English Folk Dance and Song Society
305:North of England Musical Tournament
432:Rapper sword teams also appear at
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450:Dancing England Rapper Tournament
340:Dancing England Rapper Tournament
316:University of Newcastle upon Tyne
201:Northumberland and County Durham.
945:"Welcome to The NUT on the Net!"
881:Newcastle Kingsmen Sword Dancers
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903:"Origins and history of rapper"
850:"Origins and history of rapper"
812:"A History of the Rapper Dance"
170:first performed the tradition.
127:Sallyport Rapper performing in
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434:folk festivals across the UK
16:Style of English sword dance
366:). It consists of a shirt;
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185:, in addition to physical
677:map of current UK teams.
428:Dancing at folk festivals
883:. The Newcastle Kingsmen
848:John Asher (2000–2010).
730:. Taylor & Francis.
258:used in the modern era.
181:foot movements. Mental
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762:"Rapper Sword Dancing"
438:Sidmouth Folk Festival
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229:View of Northumberland
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175:traditional folk music
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877:"The Rapper Sword"
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1024:Rapper sword
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856:. John Asher
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629:Tower Ravens
609:Tower Ravens
603:Stone Monkey
569:Whip the Cat
543:Crook Morris
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299:. After the
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43:Please help
38:verification
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692:of France.
532:Oakenyouth
293:Cecil Sharp
218:account of
144:sword dance
1018:Categories
973:. London:
950:7 December
929:7 December
908:7 December
743:6 December
708:References
520:Manchester
310:After the
276:Sunderland
237:pit ponies
179:percussive
146:unique to
101:April 2012
71:newspapers
639:DERT 2024
617:DERT 2023
597:DERT 2022
580:Newcastle
577:DERT 2019
560:Sheffield
557:DERT 2018
537:DERT 2017
517:DERT 2016
497:DERT 2015
478:DERT 2014
183:alertness
785:"Rapper"
696:See also
620:Rochdale
461:Location
436:such as
332:clogging
166:, where
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160:Tyneside
833:29 June
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686:Denmark
500:Bristol
378:hoggers
346:Costume
193:History
187:agility
129:Morpeth
85:scholar
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860:14 May
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768:14 May
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682:Norway
654:NYFTE
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512:NYFTE
373:breeks
280:Durham
215:Durham
168:miners
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824:JSTOR
600:Derby
481:Leeds
467:Dates
464:Hosts
458:Event
131:1999.
92:JSTOR
78:books
979:ISBN
952:2021
931:2021
910:2021
889:2012
862:2012
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745:2021
732:ISBN
448:The
415:pubs
368:sash
278:and
256:jigs
213:and
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150:and
64:news
645:???
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360:kit
158:of
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