Carolina Shag Club

The Carolina Shag was designated the official dance of South Carolina in 1984 by the South Carolina General Assembly. The Shag, one of the great developments of terpsichorean culture and native to South Carolina, is performed to music known as rhythm and blues. Both the music and dance are structured on time signature and can be performed to almost any tempo, as long as the basic step is maintained and kept in time to the music. In this video, professional Shag instructors Jeff and Dede Ward teach the basic step of the Shag to beginning dancers in Greenville, SC. Also in this video, Greenville attorney Carole Dennison and her 17-year-old son, Austin, talk about the fun and health benefits they have found from Shagging. Shag lessons are held at The Phoenix Inn on South Pleasantburg Drive in Greenville every Wednesday night. Jeff and Dede lead a Beginner's class at 6 pm., followed by an Intermediate class at 7 pm. Junior Shaggers can take lessons at no charge, an attempt by the Carolina Shag Club to keep the state dance alive for generations to come. The club also sponsors annual weekend events for its junior Shaggers. Those events raise money for Camp Courage, a summer camp of The Children's Hospital of the Greenville Hospital System that offers a recreational experience for children and teens with cancer or blood disorders from the Upstate of South Carolina, western North Carolina, and Northeast Georgia.