shey-sheyn.
/ˈʃeɪʃeɪ/, U.S. /ˈʃeɪˌʃeɪ/, Caribbean English /ˈʃeːˌʃeː/ Jamaica.
A rhythmical, shuffling dance usually danced by women to jazz music and song.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > dancing > types of dance or dancing > dances to specific popular music > [noun]
rag dance1892
rag1899
jazzing1917
shey-sheyc1920
juking1937
boogie1940
rocking1948
rock 'n' rolling1956
rock 'n' roll1958
monkey1963
ska1964
boogaloo1965
rocksteady1967
reggae1968
skank1974
salsa1975
skanking1976
Macarena1995
c1920 in F. G. Cassidy & R. B. Le Page Dict. Jamaican Eng. (1967) 404/2 (song) Me wi' dance de shay-shay.
1929 M. W. Beckwith Black Roadways 214 The shay-shay, that erotic dance to jazz music... The shay-shay is danced with a single partner and always to song.
1933 C. McKay Banana Bottom vi. 71 He was engaged in writing down their songs, jammas, shey-sheys and breakdowns.
1959 A. Salkey Quality of Violence iv. 62 The three women were spinning and screaming... They untied their turbans and improvized a ‘shey-shey’ reel.
1971 A. Salkey in One Love 7 We have been quick to recognise the excellence and the appeal in the musical alternative of the Shey-Shey.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1993; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.c1920