Step dancer from Devon. Born 1912 in South Zeal, Devon.
Although never formally taught to dance, he picked up material from a number of relatives and entered his first competition at the age of 7 in 1919. In particular he recalled learning material from his uncles John and Albert Crocker. The latter was reputedly a particularly fine step dancer and Les was proud of his “Albert Crocker’s Double Backstep” which, although he rarely performed it, features in the published notations and on one of the films below and which he considered to be a competition winner.
Les’ steps, background material and information of Devon Step Dance competitions have been published in C. and A. Metherell, Devon Step Dancers 2. Leslie Rice, Newcastle: Newcastle Series, (1991).
The following films are available: