Collegiate Shag - Name

Name

"Shag" itself (when used in reference to American social dances) is a very broad term used to denote a number of swing dances that originated during the early part of the 20th century. Arthur Murray mentioned Shag in his 1937 book "Let's Dance". This article states that shag was known throughout the entire country under various names, like "Flea Hop". A New York writer sent to Tulsa, Oklahoma in late 1940/early 1941 noted an "...Oklahoma version of shag done to the Western Swing music of Bob Wills and his Texas Playboys at the Cain's Dancing Academy in Tulsa."

Today the term "Collegiate Shag" is most often used in reference to a kind of double shag (see explanation below) that is believed to have originated in New York or New Jersey during the 1930s. To call the dance "collegiate shag" was not as common during the swing era as it is today, but when it was used (as it was with other vernacular dances of the time) it was meant to indicate the style of the dance that was popular amongst the college crowd. If anything, this meant it was a more energetic variant, probably involving more kicks. This name later became somewhat standard in the latter part of the 20th century (see swing revival), presumably because it helped to distinguish the dance from other contemporary dances that share the "shag" designation (e.g., Carolina Shag).