THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, January 5, 1995 TAG: 9501040140
SECTION: SUFFOLK SUN PAGE: 15 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY ERIC FEBER, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 76 lines
Shag for the Salvation Army.
Area residents who love to shake a leg, love good ol' beach music and want to help out others will get the opportunity Jan. 14.
The Chesapeake/Portsmouth-based Boogie on the Bay Shag Club, which includes Suffolk members, plans its second annual Shag-A-Thon from noon until midnight that Saturday at the Planter's Club in Suffolk.
Members will shake, shimmy and shag to raise money to benefit the Salvation Army of Hampton Roads, said club publicity chairman Donna Kistler.
``Last year, during our first Shag-A-Thon, we helped raise over $1,300 for the Salvation Army,'' Kistler said.
The club is made up of more than 100 members from Chesapeake, Portsmouth, Suffolk, Virginia Beach and Norfolk. The group is a little over 4 years old, said Kistler, a Portsmouth resident who lives in Hodges Ferry, just over the city line from Western Branch.
``We draw most of our membership from Chesapeake and Portsmouth,'' she said. ``But we have members from all over Hampton Roads.''
Just what is shag dancing anyway?
It's a dance style that originated on the Eastern Seaboard during the 1950s and '60s. Many claim Myrtle Beach, S.C., as the Mecca of Shag. The dance is sort of a slow version of the jitterbug and is danced mainly to what is popularly known as beach music, usually soul and rhythm & blues based songs.
Kistler said shag dancing and all of its many variations are kept alive and well all along the East Coast by groups of ``middle-aged teenagers'' who indulge in their passion every weekend. Locally, Virginia Beach and the Outer Banks are considered top shag locations.
The local shag movement began in the early '80s, Kistler said, when Bill Deal - who led one of the all-time favorite national shag/R&B acts, Bill Deal and the Rhondells - began reviving the music at a local Virginia Beach club. She said the Boogie on the Bay Shag Club is one of the farthest north.
``Shag clubs exist down in Florida and are found in the South in states like North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia and even Tennessee, to name a few,'' she said. ``We belong to the Association of Carolina Shag Clubs.''
But besides keeping the fine and fun art of shagging alive, the club also exists to help the community.
When the club was forming, its members decided to pick the Salvation Army as the charity they wanted to support, Kistler said.
``We've been supporting them for the last two years. We participated in their Angel Tree holiday drive, we supported their food pantry and some of our members were bell ringers over the holidays.''
Flushed with the success of last year's Shag-A-Thon, the club has now made it an annual affair.
``It's like one of those dance marathons that were popular in the '20s,'' Kistler said.
People can participate in the dancing event three different ways, she said:
As a contestant, who must bring in at least $25 worth of pledge money. Each contestant will dance five times every hour from noon until midnight.
As a sponsor, who will back and support a contestant with pledged money.
As a dancer, who can show up any time between noon and midnight, pay the $5 cover admission and enjoy continuous beach music spun by a team of three different beach music disc jockeys.
``Members from other local shag clubs, some even from Carolina, may take advantage of this and enjoy a good dance opportunity,'' Kistler said. ``Shaggers are a pretty determined group. If they find out about an opportunity to dance, they will take advantage of it. This is perfect for the person who just wants to join us and enjoy some fun dancing whenever they want.''
Last year's Shag-A-Thon went from 7 p.m. until 7 a.m. the next day. This year, dance officials decided to make it easier by switching the times to noon until midnight.
The event also will feature games and prizes for contestants and spectators and prizes for the most pledges earned by the contestants. by CNB