Shag Nationals 2010 from North Myrtle Beach

WOW, what a great weekend of Shag dancing!!

OK, You might be wondering , what exactly is a Cycling Guy talking about Shag Dancing for?

It just so happens to be that my second most liked hobby is Shag Dancing. I spent a lot of time at North Myrtle Beach during my college years and always liked watching shag dancing.

Finally about 4 years ago, I decided to jump in with both left feet and do my best to learn how to dance. I am glad to say it was a lot easier than I expected and I’m glad I found the courage to do it.

Shag Dancing has been around this part of the country since back in 50’s and early 60’s. In fact Myrtle Beach, in my honest opinion became famous because of the dance. Without Shag dancing, there’s really not a lot left besides the beach, the ocean, and a bunch of fried seafood joints. When you go to North Myrtle Beach (NMB), expect to see someone dancing to Shag music at almost any place on the Ocean Drive Boulevard.

Over the past 4 years I have had the opportunity to learn about the history of the shag dance. I have also become familiar with many of the great shag dancers of yesteryear as well as today. That’s one of the cool things about the dance. You will see young kids, teens (Juniors), college kids, young adults, middle age, and elder dancers. Everyone that dances to shag understands that if the dance is to survive, it must be passed down to new generations. There are even organizations like the Preservation of the Dance, Keepers of the Dance, Association of Junior Shaggers, Foundation for Junior Shaggers and many others that focus on passing the dance down to others.

Jennifer and I were invited to come down to North Myrtle Beach this past weekend to attend the 2010 National Shag Dance Competition (NSDC). This event has been held for 27 straight years now. This year it was held a the Spanish Galleon ( a popular night spot in the heart of O.D. inside of the O.D. Resort). Knowing that this was the heart of Shag central, we couldn’t resist.

We were told to expect to see the best shag dancers in the counrty and let me tell you, we were not let down one bit. In fact we were totally blown away by watching the juniors dance. There must have been 7 to 8 young junior couples in Junior 1 and 12 or more couples in the Junior 2 division. These kids came from as far away as California.

I truly beleive that the Junior dancers are a huge reason that the venue was slammed full of audience members. The place was packed for three nights straight from 6:30 to 11pm just to watch the great dancing. The crowd couldn’t help to erupt in aplause and standing ovations after watching the Juniors dance. This alone made our weekend. Even before we got to see the remaining dancers.

***Major Kudos to all of the professional dance instructors that take their time and have the patience to work with the Juniors.****

The three nights were also packed with non pro, professional, and past pro dancers. Some of the great dancers there include: Sam West & Leslie Jennings, Earl & Beverly Robinson, Don Bunn & Debbie Peterson, Charlie Womble and Jackie McGee, Grayson Smith and Jessica McAlhany, Jason & Holly Cagle, Jaff Hargett and Nicki Kontoulas, Rusty and Donna Hosaflook, Alan Stokes and Cameron Davis, Danny Johnson and Melissa Calabrese, and many more.

If you would like to read more about the Shag Nationals, see the winners from each Division, or perhaps plan a trip there next year, Check out ShagNationals.com . I don’t feel that posting the results on my site is a proper thing to do, so please visit NSDC to see more.

We had a really great experience watching all of the great dancing at this event. The volunteers that work so hard to host the event did a wonderful job. We are looking forward to the 28th Shag Nationals in 2011.

Cycling Guy – Fun Bike Adventures for All

My Bike Takes Me Places – So Can Yours!

Shag Nationals 2010 from North Myrtle Beach

Sites We Like

Leave a Reply Cancel reply