In South Carolina, the shag is neither a type of rug nor what Austin Powers does in his spare time. It’s a dance — a smooth, laidback, and happy dance done to that equally smooth, laidback, and happy kind of rhythm-and-blues called “beach music” (not to be confused with “surf music” such as The Beach Boys). The boys twirl the girls while the feet kick and slide around with a minimum of upper-body movement — the better to stay cool in the Carolina heat.

Descended from the Charleston, another indigenous Palmetto State dance, the shag originated on the Strand sometime in the 1930s, when the popular “Collegiate Shag” was slowed down to the subgenre now called the “Carolina Shag.” While shag scholars differ as to the exact spawning ground, there’s a consensus that North Myrtle Beach’s Ocean Drive, or “OD” in local patois, became the home of the modern shag sometime in the mid-1940s.

Legend has it that the real shag was born when white teenagers, “jumping the Jim Crow rope” by watching dancers at black nightclubs in the segregated South, brought those moves back to the beach and added their own twists. Indeed, while the shag has always been primarily practiced by white people, many of the leading beach music bands were (and still are) African American.

By the mid-to-late 1950s the shag, often called simply “the Basic” or “the fas’ dance,” was all the rage with the Strand’s young people, who gathered on beachfront pavilions and in local juke joints called “beach clubs,” courting each other to the sounds of early beach music greats like The Drifters, The Clovers, and Maurice Williams and the Zodiacs. This is the time period most fondly remembered by today’s shaggers, a time of penny loafers (no socks!), poodle skirts, and 45rpm records, when the sea breeze was the only air-conditioning.

The shag is practiced today by a graying but devoted cadre of older fans, with a vanguard of younger practitioners keeping the art form alive. A coterie of North Myrtle clubs specializes in the dance, while the area hosts several large-scale gatherings of shag aficionados each year.

To immerse yourself in shag culture, head on up to Ocean Drive Beach in North Myrtle at the intersection of Ocean Boulevard and Main, and look down at the platters in the sidewalk marking the Shaggers Walk of Fame. Walk a couple of blocks up to the corner of Main and Hillside Drive and visit the mecca of beach music stores, Judy’s House of Oldies (300 Main St., 843/249-8649, www.judyshouseofoldies.com, Mon.–Sat. 9 a.m.–6 p.m.) They also sell instructional DVDs.

To get a taste of the dance itself, stop by the OD Pavilion (91 S. Ocean Blvd., 843/280-0715), Duck’s (229 Main St., 843/249-3858, www.ducksatoceandrive.com), The Pirate’s Cove (205 Main St., 843/249-8942) or Fat Harolds (210 Main St., 843-249-5779, www.fatharolds.com), or visit The Spanish Galleon (100 N. Ocean Blvd., 843/249-1047) inside the Ocean Drive Beach Resort. There is one notable shag club in Myrtle proper, Studebakers (2000 N. Kings Hwy., 843/626-3855, www.studebakersclub.com).

If you’re interested, don’t be shy. Shaggers are notoriously gregarious and eager to show off their stock in trade. It’s easy to learn, it’s family-friendly, and there will be no shortage of pleasant, young-at-heart shaggers around who will be happy to teach you the steps.

Key local shag events, which are quite well-attended, include the National Shag Dance Championships, the Spring Safari, and the Fall Migration.