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[venta]

Well, it seems I've reached the time of my life when people sidle up to me in goth clubs and mutter "So, what exactly is this rapper dancing, then?".

So, for chrisvenus, edling and anyone else confused...

It's a form of folk dancing, originating from the north east, which does not (repeat not) involve hankies or bells. Ever. That's morris dancing.

A "rapper" (often called a sword, though it isn't) is a strip of sprung steel, about an inch wide and about 20 inches long. It has a handle on each end, and is flexible enough to be bent right round in a circle.

Take five of these, take five people. Arrange your people so that everyone has a handle in each hand, and they and the swords form a circle. Now, find some music, keep hold of the swords and off you go...

The dancers weave the swords into patterns, jump, spin, somersault over them, and hopefully come out triumphant with the swords arranged in a pentagram. Of course, to ensure you're being properly traditional about all this, it's very important to ensure that you combine dancing with a pub crawl. Half an hour per pub gives you just enough time to do a three minute dance, finish your pint, and head off for the next...

I belong to two teams, Mabel Gubbins, based just outside of Oxford, and Boojum, which consists of people scattered all over the country who meet up occasionally.

Yes, I do this for fun and because I enjoy it.
Yes, there are many people of a normal outward appearance who do this kind of thing.
Yes, it can be dangerous.

At the time of going to press, only one person on livejournal lists rapper as an interest, and I think she means the talking words kind. I know this entry would be better with photos, but I'm failing to find any which in any way convey what it's like...


Guess I'll link to this when I mention it, in future :)

Comments

[wimble.livejournal.com]

A gallery of photos will also be on the way, as soon as me, the photos and a scanner get themselves in the same place at the same time.

I've got a scanner. I could borrow you (or just the photos, I s'pose) and scan 'em. If you like.

[narenek.livejournal.com]

Why not just point a link at the description on the mabel website?

[jiggery-pokery.livejournal.com]

Any videos of dances available online in your experience? I particularly like the sound of the "somersault over them" part.

[wimble.livejournal.com]

I've got some footage from December 2000, which I thought I'd just deleted. Fortunately, illicitly uploading it to my work server(*) has saved it for posterity.
I've recovered it to my home machine, although I won't guarantee that it's visible to the world at the moment (I'll sort it out when I get to work, if I have to).

(*) That's the work server from my previous job, which I left in March 2001. Good to know they've cleaned all my trojans off it!

Goth clubs

[thegreenman.livejournal.com]

They have clubs for goths?

Ye Gods...

Re: Goth clubs

[venta.livejournal.com]

Aye. Just down the road from the Vandals Institute, opposite the Visigoths Association.

snicket

[sheridanwilde.livejournal.com]

I knew what rapper dancing was! But then the first three or four times I went to Whitby was for the Folk Week in the late eighties...

Of course, that's not why I'm here - I followed a link from language hat (http://www.languagehat.com/archives/000916.php) (I don't think of you as an Elizabeth, it was only because I saw the venta in the link that I followed it). I'm not au fait with too many Northern words (though I think that may change now I'm living in Kingston upon Hull) and was trying to figure out if there was a name for the alleyway-type thing I was living on. For a moment I thought it might be snicket, but apparently not...

Re: snicket

[venta.livejournal.com]

Oooh, do tell me what your alley is called, if you find out. I think, if you're near Hull, then you're living at about the conjunction of 'gennel' and 'jitty' territory, so I await the verdict with interest.