At Shorty’s in Chapel Hill on Aug. 1, 21 new students showed up for shag dance lessons. Prior to your article, we only had two people. Most folks had seen the Independent‘s “The Infinite Shag,” written by Chris Toenes with photos by Lissa Gotwals (cover story, July 26).
Chris and Lissa were wonderfully nice to work with and neither of them seemed to rush at getting what they needed to complete their research for the article. Chris’ words were authentic, and his description of scenes made me want to pronounce the words I read, as if I were reading poetry. Lissa impressed me with her ability to capture the flavor of a pleasurable evening of shag dancing through her swooshing photographs. I attribute your paper’s devotion to providing key information that will help the community live fully to the success of our shag dance lessons. My partner Lenn Daman and I are sold on the effectiveness of the Independent and will be advertising lessons.
Thank you, Independent, for helping to promote shag dancing in the Triangle.
June Arthurs
Pittsboro
