What is Rapper?

Who are we?

When can I see you perform?

How do I join?

Interesting Links

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What is Rapper?

Rapper is a fast, energetic dance tradition originating in the late 1800's amongst the coal miners of northern England.    It is performed by five dancers connected together in a ring by 28-inch metal "swords" with handles on both ends.    The dance is often done at high speed, and consists of coordinated "figures" interweaving the swords.    Through a combination of spins, jumps, twists, a tap step, a driving rhythm, and even a backflip, we weave the "swords" into a star-shape, which can be displayed to the audience. Traditionally, rapper dancing is usually done outdoors, or in tight spaces, such as British pubs, sometimes to a large audience.    If you're interested in seeing pictures and video clips of rapper dancing, please feel free to visit the Velocirapper Website.

Who are we?

We are a group of Cornell and Ithaca College students devoted to learning and performing this fun dance tradition.    We were founded in the Fall of 2000, and have performed around the campus and in the Ithaca community.  Our officers are:

President and Fore: Andrew Marcus
Treasurer: Barry Schnorr
Advisor: Jonathan Peck

We are looking for members.    If you are interested in finding out more about us or joining our happy ranks, please click here.

When can I see you perform?

We will be at the Student Activities Fair on Ho Plaza on Wednesday, Sept 18th. Please stop by our table and let us know you're interested!

I'm interested.   How do I join?

We meet in the North Room of Williard Straight Hall Thursdays from 5 to 6 pm.    Please stop by and check us out.    You can also get more information about us and what we do by sending an email to our Fore, Andrew Marcus.

Where can I find more information about Rapper dancing and other similar dance traditions?

Heartwood Morris, a Cornell and Ithaca-area Morris dance team most of us dance with.     Heartwood is also in search of members.

Velocirapper, the team Andrew used to dance with, has a good website with photos and video clips of rapper dancing in progress.

www.rapper.org.uk / The Nut (on the Net) is a great British online publication devoted to rapper dancing and it's associated traditions.     This is also an excellent source for other rapper links.