Rapper sword

Rapper sword (also known as short sword dance) is a variation of sword dance unique to Northumberland and County Durham. It emerged from the pit villages of Tyneside and Wearside, where miners first performed the tradition.

The dance requires five performers who co-ordinate themselves while using "rapper swords" made from flexible steel. Accompanied by traditional folk music, the dancers wear hard-soled shoes that allow for percussive foot movements. Mental alertness, in addition to physical agility, is required in order for dance participants to use the swords effectively without causing harm to themselves or the other performers.

History

Whilst substantial evidence for the origins of the rapper sword tradition does not exist, as of 2012, since the publication of Rapper; The miner's Dance of North East England by Phil Heaton it is generally accepted that the dance was originally performed in the mining villages of the Northumberland and Durham 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 account of hilt-and-point 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 long sword dances of 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.