The Prep Step

Lucian@going2paris.net
Feb 4, 2021
1 min read

Sedona, Arizona

February 4, 2021

Back in the day, the dance we did at UVa was called the "Prep Step," a faster version of the Carolina shag. It was different than this older dance, also called the "Prep Step."

4 Comments

emendels

Feb 07

I was in grad school in that window. I keep hunting for information on prep step as well. Took lessons, but never got to the competition level. I was hoping to find some primers on some of the moves we used to do. I guess the term fell out of use and was forgotten with the passage of time. Yours is the only reference to it that I've located. I guess I need to look at swing and shag. Video from that time would be unlikely. Maybe a deep dive into the internet archive might turn something up.

Lucian@going2paris.net

Feb 26

Replying to

😀. Learned from fraternity dances and visiting Mary Baldwin, Randy Mac, Sweet Briar and Hollins. I’ve never found any videos of the prep step. It’s not the West Coast Swing and not the Carolina Shag. Somewhere between the two. Seems it was only popular at Virginia colleges.

Patricia Mulvey

Jul 23, 2025

Hello -- I graduated CLAS 1987 and won a prep step competition a couple of years running with a good friend. I can't find any videos of the prep step as we did it then -- do you have any?

Lucian@going2paris.net

Feb 26

Replying to

Sorry for the tardy reply!

I’ve never found any videos of the prep step. It’s not the West Coast Swing and not the Carolina Shag. Somewhere between the two. Seems it was only popular at Virginia colleges.