Who is Frankie Manning?
Who is Shorty George? And why did they name a move after him?
What is Shag? Is it a form of swing?
Swing music is a style of jazz music that was based on Rag Time and developed during the 1920s and 30’s in the USA starting in New Orleans, heading to Chicago and finally reaching New York. Swing has a strong groove or drive that encourages people to get up dance – you know it when you feel it! Different varieties of Swing are often associated with different speeds of dance; for example, Blues for less than 100 beats per minute (bpm), Lindy up to 200bpm, Balboa 170-200bpm and Shag for faster. Speeds are only a guide, but, believe me, when you dance Lindy Hop to fast music it really does swing, a feeling that takes some beating!
If you are lucky enough to see a few of the short video slips of “The Black Bottom”, said to be a pre-cursor to swing, you can see the how the black African-American fast, rhymical, grounded style influenced dance of time. This grounded style was very distinctive from the upright ballroom/ Charleson which was also around at the time.
Initially called Jitterbug (a name now considered politically incorrect), “Lindy Hop” (reputably named after Lindenberg’s first ever transatlantic flight on 21st May 1927) emanated from the Savoy Ballroom in New York (now demolished). Over time (and through the great recession of the late 30’s) other dances were incorporated into Swing including The Suzie Q, The Big Apple, The Shag and Charleston. As Lindy reached the west coast of America, it was mixed with Country Music to result in variation called “Western Swing”.
Swing dancing itself outlived the big-band era and was a precursor to R&B, Rock ‘n’ Roll and Jive. Swing music evolved into less danceable forms of music and orchestral jazz where the instrumentalists and vocalists became a more central.
So back to the first question, Shag is a form of swing done to fast music (195-250 bmp) with its own distinctive footwork.