All Knight Dance Party was conceived in The Year of Our Lord A.D. 2008, after a momentary spark of inspiration led their founder to suit up in plastic armor and lead a ragtag army of knights into battle on the unforgiving battlefields of Santa Monicashire at Ye Olde Lei Out A.D. 2009. “I spent a few years as a squire in the Los Angelot Ultimate scene, then decided it was time to take things to the next level,” quips Sir Dancelot (né Tim Leavitt), captain and founder of the team. “Despite the popularity of ‘throwback’ team themes, I felt like the Middle Ages were severely underrepresented in the Ultimate scene, plus I wanted an excuse to bump my favorite house music on the sidelines. So when the name ‘All Knight Dance Party’ came to me in a divine vision, I had no choice but to form the team.”
That first year of Lei Out, the “Knights of the Turntable” found themselves outmatched by some stiff competition. “We realized very quickly that our battle armor was weighing us down and adjustments needed to be made,” says Dancelot. “We decided that the following year we’d either have to drop down into a lower bracket, or practice more and drink less mead on the sidelines. Obviously, we chose the former, and never looked back.” Now in their twelfth consecutive year at Lei Out, the knights are comfortable in their mediocrity. They may win less than half their games most years (“merely a flesh wound!”), but they will drink ALL of your wine bag.
What sets the team apart is not their athletic prowess, but their joyful spirit. They eschew traditional lagging or flipping for pull, and instead prefer to “joust” against their opponents. After each game, the opposing team’s Spirit Winners of each gender are knighted in a special ceremony, complete with certificates of achievement, signed and stamped by their feudal lord himself. “Sir Eli of San Franciscoshire originated the knighting ceremony around 2010, and it’s become the trademark of our team,” explains Dancelot. “We’ve had people tell us at Lei Out that they’ve proudly kept their certificates from previous years, and we’ve even had one of our previous Spirit Winners join our team! It’s pretty cool to see how far our fiefdom has extended over the years.”
When they’re not partying like it’s 1099, demanding you bring them a shrubbery, or creating buzz-worthy tournament bids (see their original submission video for Potlatch 2010 here), the team can be heard eliciting such battle cries as “Resistance is feudal!” and “We are the Knights who play…. D!” All Knight Dance Party looks forward to vanquishing foes and making many more (hazy) memories at this year’s Lei Out.
