South Carolina – Shag Dancing Clubs, Festivals, and Venues

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Also see: SC State Symbols

Did you know South Carolina has an official state dance? We do, and it's the Shag. This guide will help you learn more about this Grand Strand creation. So get your dancing shoes, practice a six-count, and start Shagging! (Note: SC also has an official state folk dance – the square dance.)

SC Shag Dancing Festivals, Events

• Daily calendar of SC Shag events
  
  
• Junior SOS - North Myrtle Beach - July
  
• National Shag Dance Championships - Myrtle Beach - March
  
• Original Charleston Beach Music and Shag Festival - August
  
• Pawleys Pavilion Reunion - Pawleys Island - May
  –  Painting of this popular Shag venue - destroyed by fire in 1970
  
• Shag-A-Thon - North Charleston - August
• Shrimpin' & Shaggin' Festival - Charleston - September
• SOS Fall Migration - North Myrtle Beach - September
• SOS Mid-Winter Break - North Myrtle Beach - January
• SOS Spring Safari - North Myrtle Beach - April
• South Carolina BBQ Shag Festival - Hemingway - April

SC Shag Organizations

• Association of Carolina Shag Clubs - site maintained by the Grand Strand's Society of Stranders
  
• Beaufort Shag Club
• Carolina Shag Club - Greenville
• Central Savannah River Area Shag Club - Aiken
• Charleston Shag Club
• Clover Junior Shag Club
• Columbia Shag Club
• Electric City Shag Club - Anderson
• Hilton Head Island Carolina Shag Club
• Islanders Shag Club - Folly Beach
• Lake Wylie Shag Club - Fort Mill
• Lancaster Shag Club
• Ocean Drive Shag Club - North Myrtle Beach
• OD Pavilion Social & Shag Club - North Myrtle Beach
• Orangeburg Area Shag Club
• Palmetto Shag Club - Columbia
• R&B Shag Club - Spartanburg
• Rock Hill Area Shag Club
• Society of Stranders - Myrtle Beach
• Sumter Shag Club
• Tri-City Shag Club - Florence
• York Shag Club

SC Shag Venues

• Ducks Beach Club - North Myrtle Beach
• Fat Harold's Beach Club - North Myrtle Beach
• JB Pivots Beach Club - Charleston
• Ocean Drive Shag Club - North Myrtle Beach
• OD Pavilion Social & Shag Club - North Myrtle Beach
• Pavilions Beach Club & Grill - Anderson
• Shagger's Hall of Fame - North Myrtle Beach

SC Shagging Images, Videos

• Pawleys Pavilion - Popular Shag venue destroyed by fire in 1970
  
• Prints of the Grand Strand's popular Shag haunts - Many no longer exist
  
• Shaggin' on the Strand - Documentary - Scroll down for vintage pictures
  
  
• Shagging at Fat Harold's in North Myrtle Beach - There are dozens of Shagging videos on YouTube, but most document competitive dancers. We chose this one to share with you because it features the Shag as most of us know and love it – just a casual dance between friends. The background of this video also features one of the Grand Strand's most well-known Shag landmarks, Fat Harold's Beach Club.
  

SC Classic Shag Music, Bands

• The Catalinas - Formed in Charlotte, NC, this 1950's beach music band has filled the Myrtle Beach Pavillion "more times than its members can count."
  
• The Embers - Touring the country spreading soulful beach music from their home base in North Carolina.
  
• General Johnson and the Chairmen of the Board - Hailing from North Carolina, this band recorded the classic Shag tune Carolina Girls.
  
• Bill Pinkney's The Original Drifters - Dalzell's Bill Pinkney was the only surviving member of the 1953 band when he passed away in 2007.
  
• Swingin' Medallions - Greenwood's own "The Party Band of the South" is still swingin'.
  
• The Tams - Atlanta-based Beach Music Hall of Fame group has been performing for over 40 years. Be sure to click Listen to the HITS.
  
• Maurice Williams and the Zodiacs - Lancaster native's song Stay was #1 in 1960.
  
• SCIway's SC Soundtrack - Hear many of these artists on SCIway's own I-mix.
  
• Beach Music is SC's official Popular State Music - Learn about the music that goes hand-in-hand (or step-by-step) with Shag dancing.
  
  
• Ripete Records - Bishopville - Great collection of beach and Shagging music
  
• Surfside Records - Founded by General Johnson
  

SC Shag Radio Programs, Stations

• 94.9 The Surf - North Myrtle Beach - Includes Shagging news
  
• Pat Gwinn at the Beach - Beach music show broadcasts on stations around the state and online
  

SC Shag Movies

• Shag - 1989 movie filmed in Florence, Georgetown, and Myrtle Beach
  

Articles about SC Shag

• Fancy Footwork – The South Carolina Shag Dance - Author asks the question "How do you teach a Yankee to dance the Shag?" and looks at modern Shag culture - Adobe Reader
  
• Sand, Sun, Music, Fun - Sandlapper Magazine article about Shaggers flocking to North Myrtle Beach for an annual event - Mostly photos - Adobe Reader
  

History of Shag

There are many articles on the Internet that claim to present the history of the Shag. The Shag does not have a clear timeline, and there are many possible theories for exactly how it came to be and who created it. There is even some confusion about where it started, though it is generally believed to have begun on or near the beaches of the Grand Strand and Lower Cape Fear. Like many art forms, the Shag probably evolved over a period of years. The articles below have accurate, honest descriptions of the dance's history.

• The Shag: Our Swingin' State Dance - SCIway News article explores the origins of the Shag as a collaboration between blacks and whites in the days of Jim Crow
• Carolina Shag History - Excellent overview - A quick and informative read
• Carolina Shag: The Queen of Dances - Looks at the Shag in relation to other dances of the early- to mid-1900's
  
• Backfire: KKK Attacks Black Nightclub Frequented by White Teens - 1950 Time Magazine article recounts an attack on the Shag landmark Charlie's Place by the Ku Klux Klan
• Oral History of Bobby Hicks - A wonderful, humorous interview with one of the men who helped spread R&B to white beach clubs in the Carolinas - Bobby was the brother of Chicken Hicks, who is credited as one of the earliest innovators of the Shag

Learn How To Shag

• Learning to Shag Dance - Step-by-step instructions, no pun intended!
  
• Shag, The Basic - Detailed explanation of Shag's "basic" and most important movements