Entertainment
Dad And Daughter Get Crowned National Shag Dance Champions
They are incredible to watch.
Eduardo Gaskell
03.31.20

The father and daughter dance is always a tear jerker and one that moves anyone who’s watching. Go to any wedding and it is that moment that stops and silences the event and makes family and friends cry.

A daughter is always a little girl to her father no matter her age.

The video below is pretty special in the fact that this father daughter team are dancing for a trophy. This is not one of those sad, sentimental dances one will find during receptions.

YouTube Screenshot
Source:
YouTube Screenshot

Sam and Sydney Kimble West are the father-daughter team competing in the Professional division.

This is the 2020 National Shag Dance Championships and this teacher-student tandem are hungry for gold. That’s right, this teacher-student team are also father and daughter. It adds a certain charm to their stage presence. Or dance floor presence to be exact.

The competition was held in Myrtle Beach and they chose a funkier version of “Stand by me”. Look at Sam reassuring his daughter already!

YouTube Screenshot
Source:
YouTube Screenshot

The West family are known for being incredible dancers.

In fact, Sam started to learn the Shag at the age of nine and as the years went by began to win and acquire a number of titles and awards for his talent. He has been named the overall champion of the NSDC multiple times over the years which included one in 1995 when he danced with his sister Sarah.

And as if that weren’t enough, Sam has also won and brought home lots of titles with his wife Lisa. The man is unbelievable.

Sam and Lisa's Shag page/Facebook
Source:
Sam and Lisa's Shag page/Facebook

It only follows that Sydney got her parents’ skills and is a championship contender herself.

Sam and Sydney are 2019’s first-place winners at the same event. They’re back to defend their crowns and with Eric Marienthal’s jazz version filling the room, the West duo begin to slide and step along the floor.

They are as smooth as that saxophone and it is fantastic to watch. Can you say fluid?

YouTube Screenshot
Source:
YouTube Screenshot

The silence in the room is because of the seamless gliding.

It takes your breath away and it leaves no wonder how Sam is a multiple champion. Sydney has some big shoes to fill but those shoes are also her teacher’s and dad is always there. The song and dance is perfect too as summed up by this viewer’s comment.

I know Sam has to be so proud to have danced with his daughter in the Nationals and they will have special memories that they will NEVER forget. While I was watching the video my eyes were leaking.

YouTube Screenshot
Source:
YouTube Screenshot

Dad and daughter smile and spin at the same time and it’s so touching to see.

A father will always see his daughter as his baby regardless of how old she is. That’s pretty obvious too the way Sam looks at Sydney and the way she smiles back at him.

YouTube Screenshot
Source:
YouTube Screenshot

The applause and cheering are a mixture of awe and “awww”.

This competition began in 1984 and it takes place at Myrtle Beach every year. This is where Shag dancing was born after all!

It is also the longest continuously running Shag competition in America and this is where the best of the best come to prove that they have what it takes to be among the elite.

YouTube Screenshot
Source:
YouTube Screenshot

Sam and Sydney took first-place as well as the overall champions of 2020!

YouTube Screenshot
Source:
YouTube Screenshot

You can watch Team West glide and slide in the video below.

Please SHARE this with your friends and family

Source: YouTube, Sam and Lisa

Advertisement