Carolina Shag

[LindyKeya]

As has been mentioned, Carolina Shag is quite similar to WCS. I haven't been dancing much of either lately, and I can't really separate them in my head at the moment. Although the basic step is different, the feeling is fundamentally the same (at least in one's legs... leads/frame for the two are more different, as I understand it).
Disclaimer: I don't know much Carolina Shag, so I could be wrong here!

 

[HepcatBob]

Hi HepcatBob!

Sorry I missed your shag posts.

Oh, you didn't miss 'em by much. Besides, they're not goin' anywhere. :wink: :wink:

JMatthew, thanks for the kick-ball-change explanation.

 

[Sockhopper]

Shag -basic step

Jackie & Charlie Womble, national Carolina Shag winners repeatedly, teach Shag's 6-count basic thus:
-triple (forward-together-back)
-triple (back-forward-back)
-rock-step

Their 'Basics Plus' tape has about 20 moves on it. It's great teaching and excellent value. You really need to see Shag danced: trying to learn from the step pattern I or anyone printd online won't give you a picture of what Shag looks or feels like. I know - I've been there! It was a waste of time that I could have spent learning it for real, for little money.

I came into Carolina Shag from Lindy, WCS and Hustle. Shag feels and looks completely different from those dances. It's good for rock-and-roll music, some soul, or any pop music that's too fast to WCS to and doesn't really swing (eg. music for Lindy). But people also dance Shag slow.

BTW, Carolina Shag is a different dance from St.Louis Shag. Most people who say they do Shag mean that from Carolina. If you dance Lindy or WCS, it's not hard to learn. With the caveat that it takes some getting used to the posture (the fact you don't use your upper body or your hips; it's all legs and feet with no zero hip action). The arm position (the post) is steady throughout and must be maintained for the basic step (above) to do what it's intended to do.

Good luck with learning!

 

[pygmalion]

Cool, Sockhopper! 8) And thanks.

 

[Diavo]

Hi, I'm curious as to what I'm about to explain actually is. By way of background, Tom Koerner (in DC) taught me this at a dance and said it was a Shag for very fast music. Now that I've seen www.jump.i.am it looks like their "Jump Feet".

hop left
hop left
hop right
hop right
hop left
hop right

Thanks,
Diavo

 

[pygmalion]

Hi Diavo. Welcome to the forums.

All those hops look unfamiliar to me, but maybe one of our swing dancers can help you. In the meanwhile, I hope you enjoy yourself in the forums -- nice people, and interesting conversation. :wink: 8)

 

[d nice]

Thats Colligiate Shag (also known as Double Shag).
It used to be real popular here in CA, but with the practical death of Hollywood Style, Colligate Shag is rarely seen. Most people out here opt for Balboa, Bal-Swing, Charleston, or just fast Lindy Hop.

There are some people who still do it, but not even close to the numbers a few years ago.

 

[Diavo]

Thanks P, I've been a lurker for a while and decided to register. I've been swing dancing since '98.
The aforementioned "hops" I learned about 3 (4?! time flies) years ago in DC.

--Diavo

 

[Sagitta]

Welcome Diavo!! Glad that you decided to stop lurking and join in the action!!

 

[Diavo]

Thanks dnice, steps people posted in this post had be wondering. I'm on the East Coast (Baltimore/DC area) and if my regular partner & I start shagging everyone looks scandalized, it's great! :lol:

--Diavo

 

[DWise1]

Suek: If that's the music, I've gotta learn this dance.

and Swing Kitten: What is collegiate shag?

Swing Kitten probably knows more, but I've done some beginners' collegiate shag classes and since she hasn't answered yet ... .

Mostly, it's fast foot movement and moderate to slow body movement. We were told that when done right, onlookers should be able to see that you're doing something neat, but not quite be able to figure out the footwork.

Six-count. Lead's steps, follow mirrors:
1. Step left.
2. Hop on left foot. Normally style by a small sweeping movement that "taps" the right toe behind the left heel.
3 and 4 repeat 1 and 2 on the other side:
3. Step right.
4. Hop on right foot, sweeping "tap" left toe behind right heel.
5 and 6 are "run - run":
5. Step left. At the same time slide the right foot back.
6. Step right. At the same time slide the left foot back.

You hold the partner pretty much like in Balboa, chest-to-chest. It's mainly a body lead as in Balboa. There's a bit of a bounce, but we were being advised to try to smooth it out. Though I understand from another source ( http://www.streetswing.com/histmain/z3colgit.htm ) that collegiate dances tended to get rather bouncy and wild. And like the Balboa, it can be used as a "resting step" to fast music.

Turns are done. Mainly we learned the woman's turn as a kind of apache done on the run-run. Also a side-by-side promenade. Other than that, many swing-type moves can be done.

StreetSwing also discusses Shag at http://www.streetswing.com/histmain/z3shagco.htm .

Our instructor says he'll teach us some St. Louis Shag soon.

 

[DWise1]

Re: Shag -basic step

Jackie & Charlie Womble, national Carolina Shag winners repeatedly, teach Shag's 6-count basic thus:
-triple (forward-together-back)
-triple (back-forward-back)
-rock-step

Being strictly SoCal, my only exposure to Carolina Shag has been through "Shag: The Movie". But your description of the steps sounds very much like what somebody recently demonstrated as what he had learned as "East Coast Swing" -- and admittedly, as a beginner trying to remember steps he hadn't practiced in a while, he didn't do very well. My own ECS training is "rock-step, triple, triple" which seems just the most natural way of doing it, so I always pay attention when somebody presents a "weird" way like he did.

Could it be that some teachers are taking Carolina Shag and presenting it as ECS?

PS
By way of introduction, I was a completely untrainable non-dancer for decades, started learning a few years ago with Salsa (discontinued for now), finally learned to hear the beat about 1.5 years ago while learning WCS (returning to it), and have been learning ECS and Lindy for the past year. I've learned a bit about various other dances along the way, but Lindy is my passion.

 

[jon]

Re: Shag -basic step

Could it be that some teachers are taking Carolina Shag and presenting it as ECS?

Unlikely. You just happened to learn a different way. Most of the ECS teachers I've seen start on the slow/triple.

 

[Genesius Redux]

Re: Shag -basic step

Thanks for the basics, everyone!

Jackie & Charlie Womble, national Carolina Shag winners repeatedly, teach Shag's 6-count basic thus:
-triple (forward-together-back)
-triple (back-forward-back)
-rock-step

In general, kick-ball-change can be substituted for a rock step in most swing variants, right? I tend to do it more when I'm in an open position with my partner.

Questions: I'm having trouble figuring out the first triple. Did someone say that the girl mirrors the boy (sorry for old fashioned gender)? Does that mean that both people step forward? How do you avoid stepping on each other?

I'm guess that the lead would have to come mostly from the arms, right? Can someone describe the lead?

The second triple--just like an anchor step?

 

[jon]

Re: Shag -basic step

Questions: I'm having trouble figuring out the first triple. Did someone say that the girl mirrors the boy (sorry for old fashioned gender)? Does that mean that both people step forward? How do you avoid stepping on each other?

By starting far enough apart. Shag is a slotted dance like WCS, but the connection is very different as you're moving in the opposite direction from your partner, rather than the same direction. So the connection doesn't have the tension/"away" nature of a WCS sugarpush.