The Carolina shag is a
partner dance
file:Tanzturnier 28.JPG, Ballroom dancers performing the tango.
file:dance-At-Bougival.jpg, upPartner dance, ''Dance at Bougival'' by Pierre-Auguste Renoir, 1883
Partner dances are dances whose basic choreography involves coordinated dancing of t ...
done primarily to
beach music
Beach music, also known as Carolina beach music, and to a lesser extent, beach pop, is a regional genre of music in the United States which developed from rock/ R&B and pop music of the 1950s and 1960s. Beach music is most closely associate ...
(100–130+ beats per minute in 4/4 time signature). The shag is a recognized dance in modern national and international dance competitions. It became the official
state dance of
South Carolina
South Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders North Carolina to the north and northeast, the Atlantic Ocean to the southeast, and Georgia (U.S. state), Georg ...
in 1984 and the official popular dance of
North Carolina
North Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, South Carolina to the south, Georgia (U.S. stat ...
in 2005.
Technique
The basic step in Carolina shag is a six-count, eight-step pattern danced in a
slot
Slot, the slot or Slots may refer to:
People
* Arne Slot (born 1978), Dutch football manager, former player
* Gerrie Slot (born 1954), Dutch cyclist
* Hanke Bruins Slot (born 1977), Dutch politician
* Tonny Bruins Slot (born 1947), Dutch assoc ...
. The rhythm is similar to six-count Swing in that it is triple step, triple step, rock step or counted as "one-and-two, three-and-four, five-six". Eight shag dance steps are in the basic pattern. The "one-and-two" and "three-and-four" steps should take about as much time to complete as the "five-six."
Carolina shag often bears only the faintest resemblance to other dances that share the "
shag
Shag or Shags may refer to:
Animals
* Shag or cormorant, a bird family
** European shag, a specific species of the shag or cormorant family
** Great cormorant another species of the family
Persons
* Shag (artist), stage name of the American a ...
" designation.
History
The term "Carolina shag" is thought to have originated along the Atlantic Ocean in Cherry Grove Beach, South Carolina during the 1940s. According to
Bo Bryan, a Carolina shag
historian
A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human species; as well as the ...
and resident of
Beaufort County, the term was coined at
Carolina Beach, North Carolina. The Carolina shag is a descendant of Carolina Jitterbug, and its predecessor, Little Apple, which was the white version of the
Big Apple (whose origins can be traced to Columbia, South Carolina in 1937) after whites sat (after "jumping the
Jim Crow
The Jim Crow laws were state and local laws introduced in the Southern United States in the late 19th and early 20th centuries that enforced racial segregation, " Jim Crow" being a pejorative term for an African American. The last of the ...
rope") in the balconies in the black clubs to watch the dancing.
Cultural references
The 1989 film ''
Shag
Shag or Shags may refer to:
Animals
* Shag or cormorant, a bird family
** European shag, a specific species of the shag or cormorant family
** Great cormorant another species of the family
Persons
* Shag (artist), stage name of the American a ...
'' starring
Bridget Fonda,
Phoebe Cates,
Annabeth Gish, and
Page Hannah as four high-school friends on their last road trip together before graduation, was filmed in Myrtle Beach and features the Carolina shag.
In 1997, the
country music
Country (also called country and western) is a popular music, music genre originating in the southern regions of the United States, both the American South and American southwest, the Southwest. First produced in the 1920s, country music is p ...
band
Alabama
Alabama ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South, Deep Southern regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gu ...
recorded the single called "
Dancin', Shaggin' on the Boulevard" referencing this style of dance and the band's own history of playing at the Carolina shore where the dance originated.
In mid- to late August 2018,
SiriusXM satellite radio added a channel called Carolina Shag. It replaced a summertime channel dedicated to
The Beach Boys
The Beach Boys are an American Rock music, rock band formed in Hawthorne, California, in 1961. The group's original lineup consisted of brothers Brian Wilson, Brian, Dennis Wilson, Dennis, and Carl Wilson, their cousin Mike Love, and their f ...
. SiriusXM describes the channel as being "dedicated to the vintage R&B sounds that have meant Summer in the Carolinas for decades".
See also
*
Swing (dance)
Swing dance is a group of social dances that developed with the swing style of jazz music in the 1920s–1940s, with the origins of each dance predating the popular " swing era". Hundreds of styles of swing dancing were developed; those that h ...
*
Collegiate shag
The Collegiate Shag (or "Shag") is a partner dance done primarily to uptempo swing and pre-swing jazz music (185-250+ beats per minute). It belongs to the swing family of American vernacular dances that arose in the 1920s and 30s. It is believed ...
*
St. Louis shag
*
Lindy Hop
The Lindy Hop is an American dance which was born in the African-American communities of Harlem, New York City, in 1928 and has evolved since then. It was very popular during the swing era of the late 1930s and early 1940s. Lindy is a fusion of ...
References
External links
Society of StrandersAssociation of Beach and Shag Club DeeJays
{{DEFAULTSORT:Carolina Shag
Swing dances
Dances of the United States