Basic Shag Step
Basic: The basic Carolina Shag step is a 6-count, 8-step pattern danced in a slot. Partners face each other in the slot, the man's left hand holds the woman's right hand. Arms are extended from the elbow with the elbow close to but not touching the body. At the beginning of the basic pattern each dancer takes a long step forward (left foot for men, right foot for women) towards each other. After the first step the dancers are closely facing each other.
Accordion: The remaining steps take each dancer away (backward) from each other back toward the end of the slot. This back and forth movement produces an 'accordion effect' within the slot. The footwork is done as a glide.
Purchase: The full video of the shag steps taught by Northern Virginia Shag Club is available for purchase. Ask your instructor at our regular Wednesday night dance. Free basic lessons are taught every Wednesday beginning at 7:30 PM.
| Man's part | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Step forward with the left foot | 1 | up-together-back (triple-step) |
| 2 | Step together with the right foot | & | |
| 3 | Step back with the left foot | 2 | |
| 4 | Step back with the right foot | 3 | back-in-place (triple-step) |
| 5 | Weight shift to left foot | & | |
| 6 | Weight shift to right foot | 4 | |
| 7 | Step back with left foot | 5 | rock-step |
| 8 | Weight shift to right foot | 6 | |
| Lady's part | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Step foward with the right foot | 1 | up-together-back (triple-step) | |
| 2 | Step together with the left foot | & | ||
| 3 | Step back with the right foot | 2 | ||
| 4 | Step back with the left foot | 3 | back-in-place (triple-step) | |
| 5 | Weight shift to right foot | & | ||
| 6 | Weight shift to left foot | 4 | ||
| 7. | Step back with right foot | 5 | rock-step | |
| 8 | Weight shift to left foot | 6 | ||
Footwork: The Shag dance is a dance of footwork. The upper body is kept still; hand and arm movements are kept to a minimum.
Rhythm: The rhythm of the basic step is "triple-step","triple step","rock step". Each of these three patterns takes two beats. A common mistake for beginners is to hurry the "rock step". Each step in the rock step takes a full beat in contrast to the "triple-step" which has three steps in two beats.
Practice: Learning the basic Shag step is an important first step. It teaches the basic count, the rhythm, dancing in the slot, keeping the upper body still, and keeping the joined hands still. In actual dancing most shaggers tend not to dance the basic step very often although they will dance variations of this basic step.