David A. Walker, who took Double Dutch from a street game to a competitive sport in 1973. No Diggity are shown above. Double Dutch teams might keep their ropes off the ground, passing them from one teammate to another without stopping the rotation. One trick involves four teammates lining up shoulder to shoulder, with the first and third turning one rope, and the second and fourth turning another, and everyone jumping in syncopation. Another difficult trick, known as the revolving eggbeater, has the rope-turners walk around the jumpers.
Jumpers also pike, flip, and do handstands as they move between the ropes.
The young people were performing at New York City's Apollo Theater in Harlem as part of the ninth annual Double Dutch Holiday Classic. One team was from East Flatbush in Brooklyn, New York. Another was from Far Rockaway in Queens, New York. Four of the 25 teams were from Nippon Sports Science University in Nippon, Japan. Help students locate New York and Japan on a map or globe.