The Shim Sham is the canonical solo swing dance routine – it’s not a swing dance party without a shim sham! It’s usually danced to Tain’t what you do by Jimmy Lunceford, but occasionally also to I wanna learn Shimsham by Billy Elliot. The routine is comprised of Jazz steps moves, and ends halfway through the song. At that point, everyone is supposed to find a partner and dance on!
The video shows Frankie Manning leading the Shim Sham.
Steps
- 3x shim sham (right, left, right)
- break
- 3x push+push+crossover, 2x push+crossover
- 3x tacky annie
- break
- 2x half break + half break + break
- repeat all the above with freezes instead of breaks.
- 2x boogie back + boogie forward
- 2x Boogie back + shorty george
- Grab a partner and start dancing!