Collegiate Shag is a dance that I am more than happy to dance.  However the issue I have when I am living in the East Coast, is finding someone to dance it with. [1]

Often I will find people all over the East Coast that say the line, “Well it looks fun and I would love to learn Shag, but I have no one to teach it in my area”. Well with the list of learning resources below, you are out of excuses!

Collegiate Shag Learning Videos

Arthur Murray

• This 1937 clip was the video I used when I attempted to teach myself shag in Pennsylvania. Although not the clearest video, it does give you the basic double shag rhythm and a few technical pointers.

Johnny Lee and Rebecca Williams

• These three videos feature Johnny Lee and Rebecca Williams from The 9:20 Special down in San Francisco. What I like is how the videos are progressive. This way you can work on basics and once you get more comfortable with them try more difficult material.

David & Chelsea Lee

• These two videos feature David & Chelsea Lee from the Jam Cellar down in Washington D.C. The first video is particularly helpful for users for two reasons. First because it zooms in on the feet. [2] Lastly it also covers what to do if you mess up, which is frequent if you are new to the dance.

Ryan Martin and Tracy Owen

• These last two videos feature Ryan Martin and Tracy Owen from Austin, Texas.  They are particularly useful because they cover technique, which is invaluable. [3]

So, if you’ve reached the end of this post. Stop reading, grab a friend and learn some Collegiate Shag!

Footnotes:

[1] For the most part I usually have to drive 3-4 hours (Philly/Washington D.C./New York) to find other Shag dancers out of my local scene.

[2] My biggest pet peeve for online videos are the ones that are teaching footwork variations and they are fully zoomed out.

[3] I’m actually somewhat jealous these last two videos were not online when I started learning Collegiate Shag. They would have saved me a lot of headaches and not looking like a flailing monkey in Virginia.