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Shag Dancing Carolina Style
Released on: Thursday, March 8, 2007 8:00 AM
Shag Dancing - What's that?by Ken W Thornton
Dancing has become a TV phenomena and it’s an excellent aerobic sport. Do you dance the shag? During the 1940s a craze swept through Myrtle Beach, South Carolina and Wilmington, North Carolina in the form of Carolina shag dancing. It is essentially an off-shoot of swing, developing in response to the jitterbug and jump blues of the big band jazz era. Although I expect many of the people reading this may have not head of shag dancing before, it is not as obscure as you might think, Carolina shag dancing is actually a recognized dancing style in both national and international competitions held in a variety of states. It is a mistake to think that it is simply limited to North and South Carolina, however, it is indeed the state dance of both these place.The Carolina shag dance can be rather demanding on both partners. One, the leading partner (most usually a man), has the task of initiating the fancy footwork, which must then be mimicked for intermittent periods by the follower partner. When the follower partner is not mirroring steps, she will assist in keeping time but the leading partner is often the center of focus, with the follower taking more of a supporting role. Somewhat unusually the hips and, in fact, the whole of the upper body remain largely still throughout the dance, with the legs being very much dominant. The ranges of movements include but are not limited to; slot movement, coaster steps and shuffles.
Shag dancing is often done to beach music; however, it is worth noting that not all forms of beach music are of the correct tempo to be appropriate for Carolina shag dancing. The usual tempo for shag music is slow to medium and as a consequence many songs need to be slowed down in order to make sure that the beats per minute of the music is in the correct range. This inevitably raises the question; what is the correct range? Well, most shag dancers, or shaggers as they are often referred to, like to dance to music set at about 115-130 beats per minute. This might sound like a lot but the pace is moderate and the dance can be enjoyed by most people of any age - having said this, good leg mobility is a distinct advantage.
Importantly, Carolina shag dancing is not the same as the St. Louis shag and the two should not be confused. While the St. Louis shag is also a form of swing dance, it was developed in St. Louis, Missouri and has a wide range of movements that are very different to those involved in the Carolina shag. The St. Louis shag is often set at a higher tempo. In contrast to the distinction between the Carolina shag and the St. Louis shag, the collegiate shag and the Carolina shag do have some similarities, with similar lead and mirror roles for the partners. However, the collegiate shag is danced to music in excess of 200 beats per minute, a substantial amount faster than the Carolina shag.
We appreciate columnist, Ken Thornton, for bringing the unique part of America’s culture of music and dance to life. Kenneth Thornton, president of Thornton Business Systems, is an avid athlete and outdoorsman.
