College students hope to revive shag; event held in North Myrtle Beach

The group of college students let out a "woo!" and clapped their hands, cheering on their competitors Saturday at the 2001 Nightclub.

What were the twentysomethings so excited about? Shag dancing.

The first National Collegiate Shag Dance Championship was held Saturday night as part of the 28th National Shag Dance Championship.

And organizer Barry Thigpen said he hopes the collegiate involvement will bring new life to the shag tradition.

"We want to expand the shag and get it into colleges," he said. "And doing it the correct way, the authentic way."

Hunter Frye, a 22-year-old Coastal Carolina University student, said he has been guilty of "fake shagging."

"I thought I could fake it and I would just try to move my feet around trying to be cool," he said. "I was nowhere close."

But Frye can do more than "fake it" now. He is one half of a shag team that competed on Saturday night.

He and his partner, Candace Hamilton, performed in the hopes of being declared the collegiate national champions, but also in the hopes of spreading the shag to a new generation.

"We hope our friends seeing this will make them want to try it," he said. "If we can do it anyone can."

Frye and Hamilton started shagging in November at a benefit for the Aynor High School Tennis Team. Kristen Floyd, a member of the National Shag Dance Championship Dance Team, approached them about being Coastal's team for the championship and the pair agreed, though they only had minor dancing experience.

"It's a lot of hard work," said Frye. "But it's fun and it's a great workout."

Hamilton said she's hopeful that more people her age will get into shagging.

"It's a beach tradition," she said. "But people our age can add a new flavor to it."

Frye said he looks at the dancing most people do now "and I think to myself why would you do that in public." But he said with shag dancing "there's an art to it."

"It's a classy dance," he said. "I think shagging will come back around."