N.Va. Shag Club keeps Myrtle Beach spirit alive in Fairfax

"It's like you're in college again," said Marcia Conway of Manassas.

Although many enthusiasts of the laid-back beach dance style have some connection to Myrtle Beach, the nearly 300 members of the Northern Virginia Shag Club keep the spirit of the shag alive every Wednesday night at Rene's Club in Fairfax City.

Shag developed as a popular dance style at the Myrtle Beach Pavilion and beach clubs on Carolina beaches in the 1940s as R&B music became popular with teenagers. "I'm from the Carolinas. I learned to shag on the beach when I was a teenager," said Conway, the club's president.

It is a slower, smoother dance style than the bouncy Lindy hop, "like swing dancing on Valium," as one club member described it.

"Shag is all footwork," said Fran Mong of Manassas, the club's vice president.

Although some shaggers prefer to dance to tunes from classic acts, such as the Five Keys and the Mills Brothers, people can shag to any song that has the right tempo, said Eddie O'Reilly, one of the club's regular DJs.

"It doesn't really matter who did it," O'Reilly said. "It's just got to have that beat. The new dancers are dancing to what they hear on the radio."

The club formed with about 20 enthusiasts in 1993. More than 100 of the 300-plus official members are regulars at events; others are alumni who have since moved from the area.

"We moved from club to club, and it just kept getting bigger," said Dave Rapson of Annandale. Rapson and his wife, Ruth, are founding members.

In addition to weekly social dance sessions, the club offers free lessons to new members and holds an annual holiday party, along with other events, such as the annual shag-a-thon that benefits Capital Hospice.

A big part of the club's appeal is the opportunity for making new friends, locally and during shag events in other cities, some club members said.

"The people are super nice," said Valerie Swiger, a member from Vienna. "They will probably be my friends the rest of my life. We have a common love, a common goal."

A few members have danced competitively, including some of the group's "junior shaggers" youth arm. Competing "really makes you work on your dancing," said Cathy Metcalf of Lorton, who has competed at the amateur level.

Prepping for a competition requires extra dance hours and training with higher-level dancers.

"There's also a social component to it," said Vaughn Royal, who has competed at the amateur level. "The friendship and associations are perhaps as important as the dance itself."

The Northern Virginia Shag Club dances every Wednesday at Rene's Club, 3251 Old Lee Hwy., Fairfax. Lessons: 7:30-8:15 p.m. Open dancing: 8:15-11 p.m. Cover charge: $8. Annual dues: $25. http://www.nvshag.org.