MEMBERS of top folk act The Demon Barber Roadshow went feet first into a dance competition.

They adopted the name The Wardrobe Outlaws as they entered the annual Dancing England Rapper Tournament (DERT).

The Barbers’ display of rapper dancing – a style integral to their award-winning stage shows – one them a bronze in the newcomers category.

The tournament was hosted by Leeds group Black Swan Rapper because they won the Tyzack Trophy for most exciting team in last year’s contest.

Several years ago the Black Swan Rappers regularly performed with folk band The Demon Barbers in the early days of their Roadshow.

The Roadshow went on to win the Haworth-based Barbers a Best Act prize at the BBC Folk Awards, and was later developed into a stage show that now tours the country under the name The Lock-In.

The show takes place in a pub where, to live music played by the Demon Barbers, a street dance crew take on traditional English dancers in a melee of hip-hop, B Boy, rapper and morris dancing.

The Barbers sponsored the Rapper Tournament and the group’s members competed as newcomers.

Barbers leader Damien Barber said: “The atmosphere was buzzing as the teams descended on the city, filling the various venues with sashes and shoes and fiddles and flutes.

“All of our team were new to this type of dancing and had certainly never entered a competition like this.

“The day was a melee of at least a hundred dances across the sunny city.”