Shagging With The Stars

The preliminary competition of the 25th annual National Shag Dance Championship was held January 25 and 26 at Studebaker’s, a popular Myrtle Beach club. There were 3 aspects to the celebratory weekend…the dance competition, "Shagging With the Stars", and the Mixed Doubles Contest.

The National Shag Dance Championships began in March 1984. It is the longest running shag contest in the United States, according to Barry Thigpen, founder and organizer.

Final competition will take place March 6 – 8 at the same location. Previous winners have appeared on "Good Morning America", "CBS This Morning", "The Crook and Chase Show", and others. There are 5 levels of competition…non-professional (for anyone over 21 who has not competed professionally before), professional (for anyone over 21 who has danced in a professional Shag contest before), senior (for those at least 40 years old who have competed in the pro division before), master (female must be at least 49 years old and the male must be at least 50; one must be a Hall of Famer), and juniors (division 1 for 14 years and under and division 2 for those 15 – 20 years old). The non-professional was the only level of competition this weekend, with eight couples securing spots to compete in the national competition. Winning couples were Dede and Jeff Ward, Marsha and Les Rose, Pat and Jim Osborne, JoAnn Caudle and Larry Davis, Christina Woodruff and Ricky Ward, Brandi Collins and Casey Litaker, Mikki and Bruce Sager, and Kim and Tommy Beacham

"Shagging With the Stars", a take-off on ABC’s popular "Dancing With the Stars", took place on Friday night. Area celebrities were paired with professional shaggers who competed in the exhibition to raise funds for the Beth Mitchell Memorial Scholarship. The winning couple was Scott Early, Myrtle Beach High School’s head football coach and his partner Mandy Holt. Other participants included Nicole Boone (WBTW news anchor) with Charlie Womble, Debbie Harwell (WRNN morning talk show hostess) with Bill Barber, Celia Rivenbark (local humorist, author, and columnist) with Brad White, Terri Springs (realtor and radio show hostess) with Trae Anderson, Darren Gore (Myrtle Beach Area Chamber of Commerce CEO) with Leslie Melton, and S.C State Senator Luke Rankin with Nikki Kontoulas.

The mixed doubles is an exhibition contest reserved for the top 3 winners each year from the previous 25 years. Jennifer Sogluizzo and Michael Norris danced away with that honor.

"We really appreciate all the locals and out of towners who supported the weekend activities," quoted Barry Thigpen. "We are looking forward to the finals in March."

Please visit our PHOTO GALLERY for images of this fun weekend.