Since its beginning, the American Swing Dance Championships have been held every year. To better reflect modern dance culture, the competition has experienced a variety of stylistic and structural changes throughout the years, as well as the addition and deletion of numerous dance style categories. The Internet is a funny place where things that have been around for a long time but have been forgotten can suddenly regain popularity.

Someone recently did this by converting a video from a VHS cassette to digital format and then publishing it to the Internet. This cassette was used to record a winning shag dance performance from the 1995 ASDC Open Swing Finals.The terms “beach bop” or “Carolina beach music” are occasionally used interchangeably with “shag,” a family of dances that are frequently performed to beach music. Because of this, the shag dance is also known as the Carolina shag. This is a couple dance that has evolved into several various styles over the years, one of which being the college shag.

Despite the fact that young individuals active in pop culture regard the technique as ancient, it has long been accepted for use in formal dance contests in the United States and around the world. It is commonly performed to the rhythm of beach music or any other type of music with a tempo of 100 to 130 beats per minute and a 4-4 time signature.

This music video features two dancers: Jackie McGee and Charlie Womble. The dance itself is pretty traditional with a 90s flair, but the music selection undoubtedly portrays what was popular at such parties during this time period. They’re wearing matching pantsuits, and the song choice reflects current trends.

This dynamic combo knows how to cut a rug, to borrow a shag carpet metaphor. Do you follow?The two musicians continue to perform in perfect harmony throughout the three-minute session. The dance video was shot in Atlanta, Georgia, which also hosted the year’s finals. You can hear the reactions of the quite tiny audience until the finish.

The entire dance can now be viewed and downloaded from an internet archive. It’s likely that the video’s success was due to youngsters enjoying fun, but many others will discover that watching it brings back happy memories. How much time has elapsed? Surprisingly, the 2019 shag championship finals are quickly approaching. It will be amazing to see how the winner from this year compares to the winner from nearly 25 years ago.