Collegiate Shag - Moves

Moves

Described below is double shag, which uses a 'slow, slow, quick, quick' rhythm. The basic step has six counts.

Shag Position: the man's left arm is held straight up with his left elbow touching the woman's right elbow. Her arm should be fully or almost fully extended overhead as well. This was not always practiced, but it is understood to be one of the features that make collegiate shag unique. Some dancers prefer to hold the arms much lower, similar to conventional ballroom positioning. The follow's footwork usually mirrors the lead's. The basic step is danced in a face-to-face ("closed") but staggered position (i.e., the lead and follow are chest to chest, but their orientation to one another is offset in such a way that the feet are not toe-to-toe but alternate, like the teeth of a zipper).

Note: Step (in the description below) is defined as: a transfer/change of weight to the opposite foot while hopping (this is usually minimal; almost more of a scoot than a literal hop). Hop is defined as: a lift-and-plant motion on the same foot. Planted foot is the foot with the dancer's weight on it

• Basic: (from the lead's point-of-view) Beat 1: STEP onto left foot, beat 2: HOP on left, beat 3: STEP onto right foot, beat 4: HOP on right, beat 5: STEP onto left foot, and beat 6: STEP onto right foot. The movement during beats 5 and 6 is often described as a shuffling motion. As mentioned above, this is usually broken down verbally as "slow, slow; quick, quick" where the 'slows' cover two beats (or 'counts') each and the 'quicks' mark a single beat (or 'count') each. Hence, for the lead this would be two counts with the weight on the left leg while the right leg moves, two counts with weight on the right leg while the left leg moves, followed by a quick step onto the left and then a quick step onto the right. The follow's movement would be the exact opposite.

• Camel kicks: (done with the partners positioned side-by-side) the same movement as the basic but where the non-planted foot kicks on each slow, and where the quick-quicks are done with one foot behind the other (in tandem).
• Breaks: A step and hold action where the non-planted leg is extended fully and the planted leg is bent underneath the dancer for support (hop onto left, leaving out the step; hop onto right, leave out the step; step left and step right)
• Turns: the follow can be turned with an overhead, a free, or an Apache turn on the slows or the quicks-quicks (to do so on the quick-quick is considered more traditional)