How to Shag....

So, by now, you must have looked at the title and thought that i've either lost it or, in a desperate attempt to get people to actually read this site, have done what all good American TV shows do and have plumbed new depths of subject matter. Well, relax (especially you Mum) because there is a method to this madness (well, more so than normal anyhow). At lunch today, my workmates and I journeyed over to a (very nice) restaurant called The Variety Store (absolutely fantastic, let me tell you!) and having placed our orders, settled into the usual pre-dinner gossip - mostly about the South Carolina-centred placemats - which had all sorts of useful information (did you know, for example, that the State Insect is the Praying Mantis?). I was slowly reading through this list and scanning the map (with a few familiar placenames - York, Darlington, Chesterfield) when i heard one of my friends mention that he was soon to be having Shagging lessons. You can probably imagine the look on my face (it involved a raised eyebrow). A glance down at the list again found that the South Carolina State dance is, you guessed it, The Shag (and not The Charleston as I had hoped). So what is it?

It started in Myrtle Beach (a couple of hours up the coast from Charleston) in the 40 and 50's when local teens invented the Shag - said to be the dance step that is most suited to Rhythm & Blues music. It is a 6-count, basic pattern dance but there is a rearrangement of the footwork that (apparently) makes it look and feel unique (some "East Coast Swing" so i'm told) with all the action occuring below the waist. As you can imagine, it's quite popular here from Florida up to Virgina (mainly the South-Eastern USA). So it's not uncommon to Shag at a party, Shag in a club (provided it's the right kind of course) and, heck, with a climate like this, many people often like to Shag on the Beach. Who knows, by the time i make it back over to Britain, i'll be an expert at the Shag myself - i suppose if George W. can make it to President, then anything is possible.