By Pam Creech
Contributing Writer
If North Carolina had a state dance, it would probably be the shag, even though a slightly cloudy history may surround its origins. While many trace the history of the two-person swing dance to Myrtle Beach, S.C., most North Carolinians believe it started in Carolina Beach.
Hundreds of swing dancers from both Carolinas and beyond gathered at the Wrightsville Beach Holiday Inn Resort for the fourth annual East Coast Shag Classic Jan. 29 through Feb. 1. The event featured shag dance performances, beginner and intermediate shag and line dance lessons, a silent auction and performances by award-winning beach music bands. Guests also enjoyed motivational speeches from local cancer survivors.
Proceeds benefit Women of Hope, a nonprofit organization supporting female cancer patients by providing emotional support groups, financial assistance and educational services.
Women of Hope was founded by Kenny and Elizabeth Barnes after their daughter, Kelly, was diagnosed with breast cancer at age 32. Kelly’s aunt, Penny Millis, started the Shag Classic to support Women of Hope.
“They needed help with raising funds so I stepped in,” Millis said. “[In 2014], we raised about $25,000.”
A native of Hampstead, N.C., Millis and her husband learned to shag dance five years ago after their children left home to attend college.
“My husband and I have loved shag music since we were dating, and we always said we were going to learn to shag after the kids were grown,” Millis said.
While chairing the three-day charity fundraiser kept Millis on her toes, she and her husband coupled up on the dance floor. Dancers of all skill levels enjoyed moving to the live music of the bands that played throughout the weekend. As some dancers practiced the basic steps they learned in beginner classes earlier that day, others performed turns and more complicated steps.
Brad White, who has attended past Shag Classic events, teaches shag lessons every Tuesday night at the Carolina Lounge, located inside Wilmington’s Ramada Inn on Market Street. The evening begins with beginner and intermediate shag classes; then, dancers can practice what they learned on the dance floor.
“Shag is extremely important in this part of the state,” White said. “We have a thriving shag community here in Wilmington and I hope it continues well into the future.”
During the intermediate class, designed for dancers who have mastered the basic shag step, White teaches people how to do turns, along with a step called the “belly roll,” a step invented by shag dance legend George Lineberry.
After the lessons, novice and experienced shag dancers flood the ballroom to show off their moves to classic hits, such as Kurt Harris’ “Emperor of my Baby’s Heart.”
White, a native of Bethel, N.C., who moved to Wilmington in 2002 and has been teaching shag lessons since, grew up shag dancing.
“I learned from my parents at an early age, but I didn’t start taking it seriously until college,” he said.
Like most North Carolinians, White firmly believes the shag was invented in his home state.
“I take my history of the shag from Chicken Hicks [a Carolina Beach native and early pioneer of shagging]. I knew Chicken well before he passed. It’s my belief that it started in the Carolina Beach area and ended up migrating toward Ocean Drive,” White said.
