The 2023 DERT competition was held in Rochdale over 10 th -12 th March 2023. The competition pubs were the Flying Horse, The Baum, The Medicine Tap, The Hoochi Koochi and D’Ale House. The showcase venue was the Champness Hall.
The competing teams were Birmingham Rapper, Black Swan Rapper, Dancing Spires Rapper, Mabel Gubbins Rapper, Mons Meg Rapper, Newcastle Kingsmen, Northgate Rapper, NYFTE, Sallyport Sword Dancers, Silver Flame Rapper, Star and Shadow Rapper, Tower Ravens and Whip the Cat Rapper and Clog.
A special mention to Sheffield Steel Rapper who unfortunately, in a not-so-glorious throwback to 2020, had to pull out due to half the team catching COVID from each other a few days before the competition.
The Competition Results were
| Category | Team |
|---|---|
| Premier Class | Tower Ravens |
| Open Class | Silver Flame |
|
The Adrienne Moss Trophy (The Veterans Competition: awarded to the highest-scoring team with a combined age of 250 years |
Sallyport Sword Dancers |
|
The Steve Marris Trophy (Awarded to the team with the highest overall score - including character scores - from any category.) |
Tower Ravens |
|
DERTy (Awarded to the highest scoring team in the youth (17-13 years) and junior (12 years and under) competitions.) |
NYFTE (both age groups) |
|
SDU DERT (Awarded to the highest scoring team in the main competition performing rapper as an alternative to their main dance forms.) |
NYFTE |
|
Traditional Competition (Awarded to the highest-scoring team performing a traditional rapper dance.) |
Sallyport Sword Dancers |
|
The Tyzack Shield (Awarded to the team with the highest marks for buzz factor (the excitement of the dance)) |
Whip the Cat |
|
Spotlight (Awarded to the highest-scoring team for their dance in the Spotlight.) |
Whip the Cat |
|
Characters (Awarded to the team with the highest scores for characters: Tommy Betty or both.) |
Sallyport Sword Dancers |
|
The Angela Lee Trophy (Awarded to the team with the highest scores for music.) |
Tower Ravens |
|
The Pioneer Trophy (DERT 2023 host’s competition; awarded to the best example of cooperative working) |
Sallyport Sword Dancers |
We particularly loved Sallyport Sword Dancers’ superb massed musicians, winning them the Pioneer Trophy for cooperation.
Find your nearest rapper team if you fancy giving bendy sword dancing a try.