Rapper sword is a tradition dating back at least to the late 1700's from villages in the North-Eastern parts of England. A Rapper sword is a short flexible sword with a swivel on one end and a fixed handle on the other. It is thought that this implement might have been used to rake sweat off of horses used in mining operations in that area, although its true origins remained cloaked in the mysteries of time (sounds cool, huh!). The rapper tradition probably started when miners started wearing wooden soled shoes in the mines, and spent some of their free time thinking of ways to make sounds with them involved in a dance. Most rapper teams consist of 5 people who are linked in a circle with the swords. The dance moves at a considerable pace (typically ~180 beats/min) and is always danced to jig (6/8) rhythms. Figures include jumps and knots which tangle and untangle the swords, and typically a back-flip or flips -- or just about anything that will impress an audience and convince them to buy you a beer for your efforts. Of course if you don't believe this drivel, you can go to the source: The UK. Here, in elegant form, is the final word on anything connected to rapper, the ultimate in WWW history pages, The History of Rapper.

Vorpal (from a poem by Lewis Carroll) has been dancing together since January of 1985, and has performed throughout Minnesota, as well as occasional trips around the Midwest and New York City for a gathering of sword dancers every February. You can see them in the Twin Cities in the winter time (we dance from September to late January each year), and always tour on the first two weekends of January around St. Paul. Our performances range from a few minutes (pretty much all we have breath for), to half-hour slots shared with local performers. Our musician, Stu Janis also plays hammered dulcimer interludes of classic british folk melodies like "Hey Jude" and well, you get the idea (probably not, but thats the way it is). For more information about Vorpal, contact Ted Hodapp by Email, or by phone.

Here is a picture of us in our younger days when we could still jump:

And another of us in our usual version of pain:

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listing of teams.