Black Swan
A relatively new team, founded in 2001 and based in York, Black Swan have taken the rapper world by storm during their short existence to date. Winners of the Open Class at their first DERT in 2001, they then went on to win the Premier Class in the 2002, 2003 and 2004 competitions. Their then dominant position in rapper competitions was owed to the all-round quality of their performance, combining innovative figures and first-rate music with a presentation style guaranteed to generate the “buzz factor” vital to a good rapper performance.
The team was co-founded and led by Dan Offord, formerly of Kingsmen, Sallyport and Stone Monkey, until Dan reached the natural conclusion of his logistic talents and left himself behind in a pub! Since then the team has been capably led by Damien Barber and also perform as part of his Demon Barbers Roadshow.
The only question was... who is going to beat them? And the answer, at DERT 2005 in Preston, was Sallyport! No, I didn't see that one coming either! The team were not around to reclaim victory the next year, as they were the hosts of DERT 2006, and managed to host an event universally acclaimed as excellent.
This year saw Black Swan re-entering DERT with two teams, performing their multiple-prize winning number 2 dance and the new impossible number 3 dance, whose rather apt name goes some way to explaining the team's downfall in Preston. Placed third in the premier category behind Stone Monkey and the Kingsmen, the myth of Black Swan's invincibility must now be dispelled, and surely the team will seek victory with ever greater motivation at next year's DERT in Liverpool. Things can only get better!
