St. Louis Shag

The St. Louis Shag is the fastest and most footwork-intensive of the shag dances, developed in the ballrooms and dance halls of St. Louis during the 1930s. It is characterized by an extremely fast tempo — typically 200 to 280 BPM — a close, side-by-side partner position, and an intricate footwork vocabulary that includes a distinctive 'shag' step that gives the dance its name. It is considered one of the most technically demanding of the swing dances, requiring both physical athleticism and precise musical timing.

The dance developed in the African-American dance halls of St. Louis, where it was danced to the boogie-woogie and jump blues music that was the soundtrack of the city's nightlife in the 1930s. The specific conditions of these venues — crowded floors, fast music, competitive dancers — shaped the dance's character: the close, side-by-side position was a practical response to crowded floors, and the fast, intricate footwork was a competitive display of skill.

St. Louis Shag was largely forgotten after the swing era ended in the late 1940s, surviving only in the memories of the dancers who had learned it in the 1930s. It was rediscovered as part of the broader swing dance revival of the 1980s and 1990s, when researchers and dancers sought out the original practitioners and documented the dance before the knowledge was lost entirely.

St. Louis Shag is typically danced at 180 to 280 BPM, with most social dancing falling in the 200 to 260 BPM range. This makes it one of the fastest partner dances in existence, comparable to Collegiate Shag and Balboa in its tempo demands. The extreme speed is part of the dance's identity, and finding music that is both fast enough and musically interesting is one of the key challenges for St. Louis Shag dancers.

The music that best serves St. Louis Shag is boogie-woogie and jump blues from the 1930s and 1940s — the recordings of Pete Johnson, Albert Ammons, Meade Lux Lewis, and the various boogie-woogie pianists who defined the genre. These recordings have a driving, relentless energy that is perfectly suited to the dance's fast, footwork-intensive style. The piano is the central instrument, and the characteristic boogie-woogie bass pattern — a rolling, left-hand ostinato — provides the rhythmic foundation for the dance.

For modern social dancing, the challenge is finding recordings that are both fast enough for St. Louis Shag and clear enough in their rhythm to be danced to comfortably. Many vintage boogie-woogie recordings have audio quality issues, and the best modern reissues and remasters are essential for teaching and social dancing.

The preservation of St. Louis Shag is one of the success stories of the swing dance revival. Researchers like Judy Pritchett and dancers like Frankie Manning worked to document the dance from its original practitioners, and their efforts have ensured that the knowledge has been passed on to a new generation of dancers. Today, St. Louis Shag is taught at swing dance camps and workshops worldwide, and it has a dedicated community of practitioners who are committed to maintaining its authentic character.

The revival of St. Louis Shag has also contributed to a broader appreciation of the diversity of the swing dance tradition. Many dancers who come to swing dancing through East Coast Swing or Lindy Hop are surprised to discover that there were dozens of regional swing dance styles in the 1930s and 1940s, each with its own musical preferences, footwork vocabulary, and cultural context. St. Louis Shag, Carolina Shag, Collegiate Shag, and Balboa are all distinct dances that developed in specific communities in response to specific musical and social conditions.

For teachers introducing students to the swing dance tradition, St. Louis Shag is an excellent advanced topic — a dance that rewards dedicated study and that opens a window onto a specific time and place in American cultural history. Its extreme tempo and intricate footwork make it challenging, but the challenge is part of its appeal.

A St. Louis Shag practice playlist should be anchored by the boogie-woogie and jump blues recordings that define the style's musical home — the recordings of Pete Johnson, Albert Ammons, and Meade Lux Lewis, whose piano recordings established the boogie-woogie tradition, and the jump blues of Louis Jordan and Wynonie Harris, whose recordings brought the boogie-woogie rhythm into the mainstream. These recordings have a quality of driving, relentless energy and rhythmic precision that is perfectly suited to the St. Louis Shag's fast, intricate footwork.

As your St. Louis Shag vocabulary develops, expand your playlist to include the broader world of 1930s and 1940s swing music — the big band recordings of Count Basie and Lionel Hampton, the small group recordings of Benny Goodman and Artie Shaw, and the early rock and roll recordings that grew out of the boogie-woogie tradition. Each of these musical contexts demands a different quality of movement and a different approach to the footwork, and working through the full range of the repertoire will develop your musical versatility in ways that no single style of music can match.

For competition and performance, the St. Louis Shag playlist should be curated to showcase the full range of the style's vocabulary — the basic footwork patterns, the turns and spins, and the creative variations that distinguish accomplished St. Louis Shag dancers. The music should have a clear, driving pulse and a tempo that challenges the dancers without overwhelming them, and it should have enough musical interest to sustain the audience's attention through a full competitive routine.