Tommy and Betty
Tommy and Betty represent the father and mother of the rapper sword dancers, respectively. They introduce the dance to the audience and try to get their attention. Like many folk dances in England and Europe, these characters are an integral part of the tradition. All historical descriptions of the dance include Tommy and Betty.
Tommy and Betty often take part in the rapper characters, as in the picture.
The importance of the characters is recognized by their inclusion in the annual DERT competitions. For example, in DERT 2003 10% of the points were given to the two.
Web links
All of the following web links are in English.
- Rapper Online
- History of the rapper dance
- DERT 2004 ( Memento from April 15, 2007 in the Internet Archive )
- DERT 2003