These days, Stephen Sayer and Chandrae “Chanzie” Roettig are spreading their love of dance by teaching the next generation at the L.A. Jitterbug Swing Dance Academy and other schools throughout California.

And they’re exactly the people you’d want to learn from.

In 2011, they won 1st place at the National Jitterbug Championships and the US Open Swing Dance Championships in the Strictly Lindy Hop division. The following year they won the Camp Jitterbug Strictly Lindy, the US Open Strictly Lindy, and came in 2nd at the International Lindy Hop Championships.

But they didn’t stop dancing after that. In fact, you can find many of their epic performances on YouTube, including one from earlier this year at the Rock That Swing Festival 2020 in Munich in which they tore up the floor with their fellow dance teachers.

And while further performances are likely on hold due to the novel coronavirus pandemic, we can only hope this perfect pair has more planned.

One particularly well-received video performance from the couple was a shag dance from the 9th Munich Balboa and Shag Weekend in 2013.

And while it might not sound like the most prestigious exhibition, a video of the pair posted by Vintage Club has earned well over 350,000 views since then!

And we can see why the performance is so popular – it’s a fast-footed, joyful romp around the dance floor, complete with vintage flair!

Both dancers have committed themselves for years to preserving the history of the various styles of swing dancing – including Lindy Hop, Shag, Jitterbug, etc.

And now that we see it in action, we understand what a shame it would be to lose these American Jazz-era traditions, many of which began in African American communities on the East coast, such as Harlem.

That said, it is no longer a very diverse group in terms of dancers, though things may change in light of renewed interest in and responsibility for understanding the Black roots of American culture.

But while dance has some work to do in the diversity department, putting it on display for more people to appreciate could be a good first step.

While commenters argued over whether the couple’s dance counted as “shag,” the consensus (at least among those who could articulate their reasoning) was that this is indeed “collegiate shag” – one of the many variations on the style, but with a bit of extra flair tossed in for good measure.

Part of what makes this performance so fun to watch is all of the personal flair these two dancers put on display.

They’re not just great entertainers, but they look like they’re having a good time as well.

No wonder they’ve been dancing together for so long!

No doubt we’ll see some more partner dancing from these two in the near future – and we’re definitely looking forward to it.

Be sure to scroll down below to see this fun and fast-footed performance!

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Source: Vintage Club via YouTube, L.A. Jitterbug Swing Dance Academy, damnation333 via YouTube