Every year since 1984, the National Shag Dance Competition has taken place in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. And many of those years have seen a victory in some category by legendary shag dancer Sam West.

Shag dancing runs in the West family. Sam took it up at age 9 when his mother Barbara started dancing. Beginning in 1995, he and his sister Sarah won 8 Professional Division titles and 4 Overall titles. The duo was even inducted into the Shagger’s Hall of Fame Keepers of the Dance in 1999.

Sam met his wife Lisa at a dance competition in 1998 and they went on to win the US Open Swing Dance Championships in 2010, 2012, and 2016.

And Sam and Lisa’s son Mack West is a world-class junior shag dancer with his partner Trinity Davis.

That’s not all!

Sam and daughter Sydney won the Professional Division Champions in the National Shag Dance Championships for the second year in a row this year!

Pretty amazing!

Sam West has won dozens of championships with a variety of partners, including Krystal Taylor Davis.

And while their 2014 National Shag Dance Competition Professional Championship performance hasn’t been viewed online as many times as other spectacular shag dances, it’s truly something to behold.

West is known (as is his son now) for taking the lead and showing off his chops instead of simply acting as the foil for his female partner – and many commenters noticed that this pairing was one of the few where he was equally matched.

“These two really knocked me out! Sam finally found a partner that could match his fervor for The Shag!!! They are super great to watch! His other partners have been very good, but Kristal is a marvelous match for his talent. Thank you both so much for sharing,” said one viewer.

Of course, that doesn’t mean Sam isn’t on full display. Especially at the beginning, his fancy footwork and elastic legwork are what draws the viewer’s attention.

It’s pretty clear that the crowd is into it as you can hear lots of cheering from the audience during their more impressive twists and spins.

And this wasn’t their only championship performance – the pair danced together many times and they took both the Overall and Pro category top spots at the 2016 National Shag Dance Competition two years later as well!

The dance genre began in the Carolinas, which considers the shag an important part of its culture. Even the tourism board promotes the championship held in Myrtle Beach every year, which is, incidentally where one of the most famous shag clubs in history, The Pad, called home.

Of course, with the spread of the coronavirus in 2020, one may have expected this year’s competition to be called off or at least postponed, but it appears they went ahead as scheduled – and on March 12-14! Yikes!

Perhaps that wasn’t the wisest choice, but the West family took a few of the top places this year. In addition to Sam and Sydney winning the professional division, Mack West and Trinity Davis took second place in the junior division.

Now we can only hope people went home healthy after that.

Be sure to scroll down below to see the fancy footwork that earned these two a championship.

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Source: Sam and Lisa West Official Website, Sam and Lisa’s Shag Page via Facebook