The Dancing England Rapper Tournament is a continuation of the most significant Short Sword or Rapper dance competitions that were held in Newcastle upon Tyne, the epicentre of the coalfields where the dance originated.

The modern annual weekend event held at different venues in the UK, brings together teams and dancers from around the country and occasionally abroad.

While the element of competition is important, the social aspects are just as fierce. The essential idea behind the tournament was then and is now that teams have to practise well and develop their skills, giving their performance a polish and their audiences a treat .

The Newcastle Tournament of Music and Art , which included a Traditional Short Sword or Rapper competition for seniors and juniors was held annually in the City Hall from just after the Great War until the early fifties.

The event comprised of many musical and performance classes held over most of a week, but it was the Saturday Rapper competition that drew the crowds. So prestigious was the Rapper, that judges were imported from the newly formed, London based English Dance Society ~ founded and directed by the great folk song and dance collector, Cecil Sharp.

The pit villages where the dance was 'invented', were known for their tight knit communities and fierce independence, and they sent their best teams along. The City Hall was packed and the press were ready to lionise the winners. The dances were honed to sharpness, the kit was impressive, the music was described as 'first class' and the pride of the Durham and Northumberland Miner was there to be seen.The pace quickened as first the Juniors, then a few women's and girls teams and then finally the men competed for Trophy, medals and glory.

In the early days, papers such as the Evening Chronicle and the Northern Echo had banner headlines of the results giving fame and pride to the village of the Trophy winners Whichever team won was copied. Stepping patterns, new tunes and of course the best figures and movements were stolen or borrowed. Rivalry was high with reported fights backstage and around town. Stories are whispered of musician and dancer nobbling before and after the competition.

The modern event is not quite so cutthroat., but cameras, recorders and videos and a few free pints of beer have been part of the sword team's armoury for a while.

DERT aims to catch the glory and repeat the skill and the spectacle .