Resident petitions to make 'Wobble' the official South Carolina state folk dance

CHARLESTON, S.C. (WCIV) - While "The Shag" may be the official state dance in South Carolina, the official state "folk dance" in South Carolina, set by Act Number 329, is the square dance.

There’s a petition to change the dance circling around the Lowcountry.

The creator is hoping to get enough traction to head to Columbia.

North Charleston native KJ Kearney suggested a variety of dances to replace square dancing, but he’s more concerned about ensuring whatever dance is selected, it represents all people of South Carolina.

Tanya Christopher of Amorous Dance in West Ashely is teaching us the ins and out of our state folk dance, the square dance.

She’s been teaching a variety of dances for years.

“I have gotten people who’ve asked me how to square dance, mainly, I have people who ask for wedding-type things. The 'Wobble' is extremely popular. People when they go to weddings, they want to know what everyone is doing on the dance floor," she said.

Dancing in harmony, one Lowcountry man said it’s time everyone gets on a different kind of beat in the Palmetto State.

“South Carolina is moving in a more progressive direction and we’re trying to think of everybody when we think about symbols that represent the state,” Kearney said.

He’s a millennial who once knew how to square dance.

“I definitely learned how to square dance in P.E. in elementary school," Kearney said.

Folk dance became widely popular across the U.S. in the late 1920s by Henry Ford.

“He picked square dancing and put a lot of his money behind opening square dancing clubs, he published a square dancing manual," Kearney said.

Kearney believes South Carolina is a more inclusive state today.

“I’m kind of interested in politics from a more personal, a more 'people' angle, and I thought this is something that people would be interested in.”

He started the petition to officially change the state dance from square dancing to "Wobble," a ubiquitous party song byV.I.C.

“I chose the 'Wobble' because while it’s not necessarily a South Carolina thing, it is very intersectional in the fact that almost anyone can do the dance," he said.

He’s has at least one lawmaker, Rep. Marvin Pendarvis, on board.

“In due time and at the right time, if it’s the will of the people of this state and certainly if it’s the will of this body and the general assembly, then I think we’ll be able to push something like that forward," Pendarvis said.

Pendarvis admitted this petition will more than likely not be the first item debated in the State House next year.

“We’ve got an education crisis, we’ve got a crisis with not only our pension system, we’ve got a health care crisis, we’ve got infrastructure problems, there’s no doubt that we’ve got issues that we’ve got to handle in South Carolina,” he said.

Kearney has 81 signatures on his petition as of Tuesday.

He's hoping for 10,000 signatures.

“What I’d really like to do is a state-wide 'Wobble' in Columbia on the State House grounds once this law gets changed, or this symbol gets changed," he said.