Following on from Part 1…

During the height of the NYC hip hop takeover, and the rise in popularity of the sport (i.e. sponsored media-plussed activity…) Double Dutch crossed the Atlantic with the Roxy sponsored New York City Rap tour in 1982. Just a few years later US national competitions were awarding winning teams with trips to Europe to represent American Street Sport culture. This international outreach caught on, and as Double Dutch fell out of the hip hop spotlight, a global seed rooted to produce fruit.

Double Dutch – Black Magic

Being a London based team we at Holy Roller were pretty excited to find a rare documentary like David Hoffman’s Double Dutch, made for PBS TV documentary, circa 1984. This 45 minute documentary follows the young team Black Magic, a group of girls from Connecticut who win the state championships and a trip to London, England.

In the competition, Black Magic were the overall best scoring team across the multiple sets (compulsory, freestyle and speed), but they really set the standard with the fastest speed jumping time on record. During their trip to London, they make several attempts to enter Guinness Book of World Records History.

Counted by adding up the number of times the left foot hits the ground, Phylis’s personal previous record was 369 steps in 2 minutes.

Not so much about the intricacies of the sport of Double Dutch, this film is more of an intimate journey with the girls as they go on a trip of a lifetime. An immense and unique journey for 3 young teenage girls from Connecticut who’ve never left the USA before. Bright and dedicated, these girls are perfect ambassadors.

The footage on this film is as important to US history as it is to the UK. Highlights include an Englishman adding a courtesy to their jump rope choreography for when they meet with the Lord Mayor:

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‘Hello’ rhyme by the girls from the a float while touring the Lord Mayor’s show:

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A double decker tour through 80′s Central London featuring some punk girls sitting on at statue at Piccadilly Circus:

And a visit to a Brixton secondary school where young black kids bond with the girls comparing notes on teenage black experience and concluding with a party where all the kids get down.

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Rhythm in the Ropes Documentary

Another video available through the NDDL website, is Rhythm in the Ropes by Johnson McKelvy. Apart from the overtly emotionalised narration and soundtrack, this is a very informative documentary. It will take you from the the 80′s through the life of the modern competition with some serious personal rites of passage. From the streets of Brooklyn New York, to Carolina, to Japan and back to The Legendary Apollo Theatre in Harlem.

There are no clips of the film online, so here’s one of Jumpers N Command, the team lead by the previously mentioned male shining light of Double Dutch, Stephonne Webb. His team tours regularly with the Universoul Circus, a circus lead by visionary Cedric Walker that showcases ”various talents other than singing and dancing that black performers had to offer. We had the idea to present something different, to create a show that presented a wide spectrum of black talent to a wide demographic of spectators. To reach deep into our culture and search for what talent and skills lie asleep in the black entertainment experience.”:

This film also features profiles on some of the longest running Double Dutch coaches who take young kids under their wing and try to hone a better outlook on life for them. Essential viewing for those who want to get with the rhyme and reason of Double Dutch’s existence as a sport built out of community play. Additionally it gives a an angle on the Japanese context – the Olympic school sports trained kids who feel like individuals in a society that promotes conformity, and find their home in Double Dutch. Also featured are high profile US teams like Jazzy Jumpers (NYC), Double Dutch Forces (Carolina).

Competition Sport vs Street Game

One oh One we wanna have some fun!

Over the years Double Dutch as a competition sport has defined the standards and rules of the game, but inevitably, in the process it has lost some of the original rhythm musicality and creativity and connection to African American roots of the Street Game.

“Like most competitive sports, the rules of Double Dutch are pretty technical” says the Black Magic coach. Competition Double Dutch has 3 main standard sections where specific ‘tricks’ are required. Teams score points according to how well they complete these – and they can lose points for going over time restrictions, so sometimes regardless of innovative creative expression – teams can lose out. Such is the format of a competition sport.

The Compulsory: 40 second set routine – Jump in, turn 360 degree turn to the right on one leg, a 360 turn to the left on the other leg, criss cross both legs, 10 high steps and jump out (See Malcolm McLarens’ Double Dutch cover in Part 1).

Speed: is about stepping as fast as possible non-stop for a set time (2-5 minutes). The number of steps is counted by how many times the left foot hits the ground. It’s the speed section of the competition that has become the biggest for international competitions, probably because it is the most straight forward section, with no creative edge required and only one move to master. Running fast on the spot, it’s probably the most clinically ‘sport’-like

Freestyle: is one minute of 3-5 tricks of your own choosing, an original routine that fulfills a set format. Innately rhythmic the freestyle is where you see dance moves and gymnastics introduced. While this is the ‘creative’ part of the competition – over the years it has been restricted somewhat by having to at minimum complete a set of defined ‘tricks’ that fulfill the 4 requirements: Turn, Acrobatic, Dance, Ending(choreographed).

“Violations in Freestyle” from the American Double Dutch League competition rules:

Mistake (-0.5)
Omission of Turning requirement (-1.0)
Omission of Acrobatic requirement (-1.0)
Omission of Dance requirement (-3.0)
Omission of Ending requirement (-1.0)
5 seconds to enter  (-5.0)
More than 3 turns of a single rope (-5.0)
Jumper out of ropes more than 5 seconds (-5.0)
Less than 45 second routine (-15.0)
More than 60 second routine (-5.0)
Poor Sportsmanship (-15.0)
Jewelry/Hair Accessories  (-15.0)
Sloppy Uniform (i.e. shirt hanging out)  (-15.0)

Recognising a lack of musicality developing in modern Double Dutch competitions during the 90′s, founding father David A. Walker invented “Fusion Double Dutch”, routines performed to musical soundtrack. This style has become hugely popular, and is the main focus of the esteemed Best in Show Award at the competition at The Apollo Theatre.

Fusion routines are spectacular coordinated acrobatic dance routines, and the Japanese teams have been the most celebrated performers of this style. They have consistently won most of the major Fusion competitions for the last decade. They show how the sport has evolved with Fusion.

But as Kyra Gaunt points out in her book Game’s Black Girls Play – From Double Dutch to Hip Hop , Walker’s Fusion may have missed the point – the musical element of Double Dutch was something that the jumpers generated themselves through hand claps, chants and the rhythm of their steps and the rope hitting the ground.

But for some teams and those who play the game in their own time – the spirit of chants and dance lives on.

The Double Dutch Divas

The Double Dutch Divas, first incarnation was Jump Sister Jump, members of which were part of The Fantastic Four! So the Double Dutch Divas could almost be seen as the legacy of the original Double Dutch superstar girls.

They are a group of women, not young girls, who are regularly found performing in Central Park. This team started in the late 80’s, and it’s first incarnation actually featured some members of the legendary Fantastic Four, back then they were called ‘Jump Sister Jump’.

The Divas promote the idea that it doesn’t matter what age you are – you don’t have to be a teen to flex your double dutch muscles in the ropes. These women take it back to the street game of rhymes and self expression – they make up their own chants and each member has their own style, they perform with a musical soundtrack, from house, to hip hop.

It’s a shame that researchers for CBBC’s Jump Nation didn’t pick up on the African American roots of the sport and invite these women to show the kids what it’s really about. As with almost all activities that has come out of Black Cultural expression – somewhere along the line the powers that be have attempted to harness it and create a set formula which inevitably sucks a lot of the life out of it.

Elsewhere in the world

The Belgians are big players in international double dutch being another hot bed of modern Hip Hop culture.

For various reasons the UK didn’t really take hold of Double Dutch as a major past time for urban girls. The British Skipping Association exists and is a big player in international sport with the reigning international Speed Jumping champ a young girl from the Midlands. But – watching them, you can see it’s a SPORT not a culture, it’s musical hip hop roots are lost.

J’Adore the French

Trawling through the websites of international rope skipping organisations, most of what you find is straight sports info, lots of text, not much fun. But it’s the French Federation for Double Dutch that has the only promo that  Holy Roller feels nods to to a true hip hop spirit, showcasing their annual competition where the modern Fusion style takes centre stage.

They also have instructional videos for the core defined tricks of competition Double Dutch.

Team Ebene

Although they are a competition team, you can find videos of them performing in the street where they mix up up acrobatic styles and chants, and dance moves – including the French love of House Dance added to their street freestyles.

Back on the rise?

In 2008 the state of New York in made Double Dutch a Varsity Sport

In her 2009 Sticky and Sweet Tour – Madonna recalled the 80′s with Keith Haring imagery and doing the double dutch herself

Documentary Films about Double Dutch

Pick Up Your Feet “Entertaining, classic documentary video about personal achievement and teamwork, featuring the Fantastic Four and other championship rope jumping teams.” (1981) Skip Blumberg

Double Dutch “This PBS primetime special has it all. Training. Competition. Great characters in the team Black Magic. A trip to England. Training the English girls. Beautiful athletics. Wonderful people. An emotionally powerful story. The team, Black Magic, was one of the greatest double dutch teams ever. The Special shows the intricacies of competition and their attempt to try to beat their own world record for fastest speed.”  David Hoffman

Rhythm in the Ropes “movingly conveys the impact the sport has had on many inner-city children since its inception.  Following teams from Brooklyn, Far Rockaway, South Carolina, and Japan as they prepare for the 2004 Double Dutch Holiday Classic at the Apollo Theater in New York City, McKelvy captures the struggles, hopes, and triumphs in their lives, and the true spirit of the sport.” Johnson McElvy (2004)

Doubletime “A documentary on two teams in preparation for the Double Dutch world championship at the Apollo Theater in Harlem” Stephanie Johnes (2007)

I Was Made To Love Her: the Double Dutch Documentary “a film about women of all ages jumping double Dutch jump rope and the game itself as it has grown from neighborhood pastime to international sport. The title, “I Was Made To Love Her,” is named after the Stevie Wonder classic song. ” (2000) Nicole Franklin

The Double Dutch Divas! “is the short film derived from the award-winning feature-length I Was Made To Love Her: the Double Dutch Documentary which follows three different generations of women jumping rope. The Double Dutch Divas are the oldest of these jumpers.” (2000) Nicole Franklin

Jump! – “JUMP! is a feature-length character-driven documentary about competitive jump rope that follows kids on five teams from around the country who push physical and psychological limits in pursuit of winning the World Championship.” Helen Hood Scheer (2007)

Lots of modern ads feature double dutch, here’s a Spanish Telephone ad:

Madonna does Double Dutch in her Sticky and Sweet Tour… she’s not the funkiest jumper it has to be said, but still:

By Rollin’ D

Continue on to the final installment Part 3: Rhythm and Rhyme, it’s a Movement >

< Or go back to read Part 1: Pick Up Your Feet