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California Rolls “Love Me or Leave Me” routine at ILHC and why it rocked (video)

Posted on August 31, 2009 by

At 3am Sunday night / Monday morning, the 2nd annual International Lindy Hop Championships came to a rousing close in Washington DC.  It was an incredible weekend of lindy hop competition, social dancing, live music, workshops, and socializing with dancers from around the US and all over the world. 

One of my fondest memories from ILHC09 is the California Rolls team performing a beautiful routine to the Nina Simone song "Love Me or Leave Me." Here's my video of it:

 

Even if you know nothing about the history of the song, it's an incredible performance that deserves at least the 3rd place prize it got in the team division.

But what makes it so poignant for me and many of the others who were there was how risky doing a routine to that song is. Because "Love Me or Leave Me" is not just another catchy, melodic jazz song.  It's a part of lindy hop history, a song that is inextricably linked to a team routine that changed lindy hop forever.

Let's go back ten years, during the height of the swing revival.

In 1999, a team of eight gangly teenagers from — of all places — Ithaca, New York, came to the American Lindy Hop Championships in Stamford, Connecticut.  Most of us had no idea who these kids were or what business they had in this national dance competition.

These eight high schoolers proceeded to blow all of our minds.

 

Under the guidance of their teacher Bill Borgida, these teens added a new quality of movement, flow and grace to lindy hop that in my opinion changed the dance forever.  For many of us who were there at ALHC, or watched the tapes later, this routine and these dancers gave us new heights to try and aspire to.  Many of those teens have gone on to become world famous performers and teachers in the swing community.  For this reason, the "Love Me or Leave Me" routine by Minnie's Moochers remains one of the most influential pieces of choreography in the modern lindy hop movement.

So for the California Rolls to pick that song for their routine took some guts.  Those of us from the era have strong feelings and connections to the Moocher's routine, and can't hear that song without thinking of it.

That said, by the time we got to the final bars of the California Rolls routine, I had a hard time remembering the Moocher's routine at all.  The California team's choreography encapsulated the musical phrasing, tone, structure, and energy beautifully.  And they injected humor and lightness into the routine, while the Moocher's routine is more serious in tone.  Plus there's just so many of them doing this intricate choreography during a very long and difficult song to dance to.

I still get chills watching this routine every time.  Congrats to the California Rolls and their leads Ben and Sheri!  I have even more respect for you.

6 thoughts on “California Rolls “Love Me or Leave Me” routine at ILHC and why it rocked (video)”

  1. tinymich says:
    August 31, 2009 at 10:39 pm

    OK, I flailed. Then I grinned. Then I flailed some more. Then I told everyone I knew about it. THIS ROCKED!!!
    (Sidebar: Didn’t I comment on the Mike & Evita post last night?! Did intarwebs eat my commentz? rawr.)

    Reply
  2. kait says:
    September 1, 2009 at 6:22 am

    better yet, presenting it with 2 of the moochers on the judging panel… loved it! (the one2swing jitterbugs’ “all the cats join in/traffic jam” routine actually got the bigger reaction and higher judging at camp hollywood – both ben & sheri teams completely rock, but i thought it was pretty cool that the events had slightly different energies and values!)

    Reply
  3. Alice says:
    September 1, 2009 at 9:05 am

    Tru dat.
    Well said, I completely agree.
    Even though I was 9 years old and had no idea what lindy hop was when Minnie’s Moochers performed their (now legendary) routine, it still had a profound effect on me when I first saw it much later (thanks to the youtubes) and still does every time I see it. However Ben and Sheri, and every single person behind One2Swing, created something that stands apart from the 1999 performance and, exactly what you said, you don’t even think of it when you watch it.
    I don’t know how they pull this off every year, but all I now is that every performance overflows with their love of the dance.

    Reply
  4. rikomatic says:
    September 1, 2009 at 2:05 pm

    Kait, good point about moochers on the judges panel! I can’t imagine what it was like for them to watch that.

    Reply
  5. jesse says:
    September 1, 2009 at 3:27 pm

    Also formations and lines like the Hollywood Hornets!

    Reply
  6. Maximus says:
    September 1, 2009 at 7:50 pm

    Thanks for posting this man. I love this routine :o) it makes me want to cry every time I see it.

    Reply

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