Cowper, Roland

Dancing master from Whitehaven teaching clog, step, social and fancy dances. b. 1889.

A member of the Cowper family of dancers and dancing masters.  Details of this extended family can be found here.  He was the son of Oliver Cowper and the father of Marion Cowper and was able to give very full information regarding his father’s classes and the dances he taught.  Apart from those mentioned below it is unclear how many of these featured as part of his own teaching.

He was a part-time teacher earning his main living as a painter and decorator.

He was able to teach one of his uncle Harold Cowper’s steps.  He had also taught this to his daughter.  He was insistent that this was Cumberland step dancing, not clog dancing.  He also recalled the family version of the Sword Dance.

He provided notations for the following social dances:

Information derived from an interview by Tom Flett with Roland Cowper on  6 January 1960 and: