Rapper sword

Rapper sword (also known as the "Short Sword" dance) is a variation of sword dance that emerged from the pit villages of Tyneside in North East England, where miners first performed the tradition.

The dance requires five performers who co-ordinate themselves whilst using "rapper swords" made from flexible steel. Accompanied by traditional folk music, the dancers wear specially-designed 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 effictively without causing harm to themselves or the other performers.

Whilst substantial evidence for the origins of the rapper sword tradition does not exist, as of 2012, it is generally accepted that the dance was originally performed in the mining villages of the Northumberland and Durham coalfield in North East England, with an intensity of activity traced to Tyneside. A "hilt-and-point" sword dance also existed in Yorkshire, where rigid longswords were used, and a documented account of this dance has been located in a 1715 article in which a fairly accurate description can be read.

At some stage in the nineteenth century, the rigid swords were replaced by flexible rappers. 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 is commonly thought that the flexible version was used for removing dirt from the backs of pit ponies, 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 Alistair 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 Bessemer process in 1855 that allowed steel to be made inexpensively.

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