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| About Us |
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 King Stone Rapper is a mens’ dance side based in and around Chipping Norton, Oxfordshire, who dance the traditional village dances of the north-east of England as collected and recorded in the early twentieth century by Cecil Sharp. Our name is taken from the King Stone, a solitary standing stone comprising part of the prehistoric complex known as the Rollrights.
Formed in January 2005 from a group of Mummers, King Stone Rapper take Cecil Sharp’s book of sword dancing, The Sword Dances of Northern England (1912), as their starting point. The side discovered the secrets of Rapper through (and, at times, in spite of) Sharp’s notations, often spending several hours deciphering the precise meaning of one word or phrase in order to illuminate his true intentions.
During King Stone’s first few practice sessions we found ourselves indebted to the encouragement we received from sword maker, Frank Lee. His generosity, notes, advice, and swords made what was a seemingly daunting task – enjoyable. Even now, as we plough through new figures, the buzz we received when it all clicks into place never ceases to amaze us.
Typically, a Rapper ‘side’ comprised 5 dancers, a musician, a Betty and a Tommy. We differ slightly to this model. King Stone Rapper currently comprise a small pool of dancers from whom, according to availability, our five performing dancers appear. We are fortunate to boast two excellent whistle players whose patience at practice is admirable. And, although we do not have a Tommy, we have a Betty with some considerable background in Rapper gained in the north-east of England but who now simply enjoys wearing women’s cloths.
Rapper, as a tradition, is relatively young when compared to other related sword dances and is, like us, still developing. |
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