There are two distinct styles of sword dancing native to England. Longsword is mainly from the Yorkshire in northern England and is characterised by men holding flexible metal or wooden swords and weaving complex patterns. The other popular style of sword dancing is Rapper. This uses flexible steel swords and is similar to Longsword, except generally danced very much faster, with more complex figures and with intricate stepping. Rapper developed in the coal mining villages around Newcastle upon Tyne in the North-East of England. As with many English traditional dances, both are now also performed outside England, especially in the USA and other English-speaking countries, but even in more surprising locales such as Norway!
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