What do you get when you combine mad skills in an obscure dance style, an active Instagram account, a love for traveling, and an adorable couple?
You get an insanely viral video that’s racked up more than 100 million views… but, more importantly, you get to witness an old-school dance make an unbelievable comeback!
Due to this video, Collegiate Shag is experiencing a revival all over the world.
Kendall and Ronnie Roderick have been making waves on social media thanks to their Collegiate Shag dance routines.
Collegiate Shag is a partnered dance with an upbeat tempo. Although it was popular with university students in the 1930s, it went out of fashion within the next decade. Now, Collegiate Shag is an obscure dance style, but Kendall and Ronnie are working hard to try and bring it back.
And for them, it’s not just a dance… it’s a lifestyle.
If you peruse the videos and pictures on Kendall and Ronnie’s shared Facebook account, you’ll see that their account is a fantastic homage to the 40s! Aside from the videos of them dancing, this couple loves all things vintage…
Even the way they dress is delightfully retro!
Surprisingly, Kendall began her love affair with old-school dance styles in Denver, where she fell in love with Lindy Hop. But when she moved to Los Angeles, she found Collegiate Shag.
The obscure dance style ignited a fierce passion in her and she became absolutely obsessed.
And because she wanted to spend every free second practicing her moves, her husband Ronnie decided to join in.
The couple set up an Instagram account and quickly grew a following. They combined their love of Collegiate Shag and travel and began to record videos of them dancing in all their favorite places around the world.
So far, they’ve danced in Red Rocks Colorado, medieval fortresses in Spain, The Grand Canyon, under waterfalls, and even a NASA computer room!
Kendall thought that dancing in front of these amazing backdrops would get the videos more attention – and boy was she right!
The couple hoped to bring Collegiate Shag back to life by sharing it with more people and posting new content every single week.
One video, known by most as “Couple Dancing in the rain,” was just the breakthrough they needed.
The video was recorded in New Orleans, where Kendall and Ronnie were attending a swing dance festival. But was only when the video was uploaded on TikTok that it went insanely viral.
But is the couple’s plan to make Collegiate Shag popular again actually working?
Sadly, Kendall has her doubts:
‘Idk if my goal to get more Collegiate Shag in the world is working. I’m not sure more people are #dancingintherain or that more #couples are diving into swing dancing but I hope they are,’ she wrote on Instagram. ‘I hope all the positive comments and the 25 million views across all the random platforms that the video was posted on, helps people find the beauty of dance. With more people making #couplegoals and #lovinglife’
Even if they’re not singlehandedly bringing Collegiate Shag back, you can see that they are having a lot of fun!
The video has amassed more than 100 million views to date just on YouTube, and it’s still going strong!
Maybe there’s still time to bring this obscure dance back, and this couple is still determined to try. After all, who knows how many potential Collegiate Shag dancers are out there?
To see this adorably retro couple dance in the rain, watch the video below!
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