Shag Contest features McIntyre & Azalea Queen

Most of the Azalea Festival is set for relaxing strolls down the Riverfront, or through a garden. But things are a little more fast paced at the Shag Contest.

Dozens of couples competed by showcasing their mastery of the Carolina Shag. Dancers ranged from middle school to middle aged. But all showed some fancy footwork on the dance floor.

If there were a category for first-timers, Azalea Queen Lindsey Shaw would have won in a landslide. Congressman Mike McIntyre introduced her to the dance, and she caught on quite quickly.

“It’s definitely a dance I will add and try to take back west with me,” says Lindsey. “He was a really good teacher, and he took the lead very well. I just tried to follow him through the turns, that was no doing of mine.”

The Carolina Shag is the official state dance of North Carolina and has local ties. In fact, the name “Carolina Shag” is said to have been coined in Carolina Beach in the 1940s.