 |
The Kingsmen Rapper Sword Dancers |
The Kingsmen are one of THE English traditional rapper dance teams - founded
in 1949 by Prof Bill Cassie of King's College Durham (hence the name).
The Kingsmen perform Rapper dancing (Northumberland and Durham), the Grenoside
Longsword dance (Yorkshire) and the Royton Processional clog morris dance
(Lancashire).
|
|
The Rapper sword dance is a traditional dance from the North East of England. It is said that the dance was originally performed by miners of the pit villages.
When performing Rapper, a team of five dancers are continuously linked by flexible swords called 'rappers'. These swords are intertwined to produce continuously moving and impressive display figures.
The dancers tap out a rhythm with their feet which is known as 'stepping'. The music, which is traditionally Northumbrian or Irish jigs, is played fast and furious!
|
|
|
