an apparatus and method of handling flexible foldable materials , particularly thermoplastic film webs , continuously fed from a supply by continuously moving input nip rolls to a dancer including a roll mounted for movement transversely to its central axis . intermittently moving draw rolls intermittently advance material from the dancer roll . the dancer roll is reciprocated in coordination with the intermittent advancement so as to decouple the translational inertia of the dancer roll from the material . a flexible belt also simultaneously rotates the dancer roll so as to decouple rotational inertia of the roll from the length of material . the dancer may be driven by a cam in common with a work station reciprocating against the material fed from the dancer .