Mirror Patterns ~ Looking Good in the Slot
Shag as it has evolved has followed two or three paths, the first is dancing in a slot where the male performs and the female complements him, by essentially staying in time dancing basics. The second is dancing in a slot, but the male and female movements are exact opposites, or a mirror view of each other. The Shag Basic is the most common step and is a true mirror pattern that stays completely in the slot. At times the dancers will move in a sideways pattern as exhibited in the Double PAM or Sugarfoot. When this happens it is again very common to see that each dancer is mirroring the other often in a closed or flair position.
Mirror patterns have always been popular in most dances because they show a synchronization that reflects an “oneness” of the two dancers who are in complete understanding of each others movements. As opposed to a lot of other shag dancing; mirror patterns will often require a verbal cue at the start so the more complex ones will rarely be danced by people who are not intimately familiar with each other, or the steps that make up the figure.