Introducing Green Man Sword – Surrey’s premier* traditional sword dancing team. We have members from a wide area of Surrey and South West London and practice at the Station pub in Stoneleigh, close to the London/Surrey border most Tuesday evenings from 8-10pm – find out more about joining us. We welcome new dancers and musicians – no experience is necessary and we have an expert tutor on hand to guide you.
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What we do
Rapper Sword
Rapper sword is a fun and fast-paced style of dance with interconnected dancers using a ‘rapper’ or short sword made of flexible sprung steel with a handle at each end. Its origins lie in North East England but it is now danced across the globe.
Longsword
The UK has a strong tradition of Longsword dancing, with dances originating from the North of England and Scotland.
Longsword is a linked sword dance with dancers dancing as a team, weaving over and under the swords. The dance usually ends in a lock when the swords are woven togther, often in a star shape. It sounds more dangerous that it really is – spoliler alert, the ‘swords’ are actually blunt strips of steel so no pointy bits to worry about.
Header image: Green Man Sword at Wimborne Folk festival courtesy of Ben Potton.