I enjoy getting comments and feedback from my students. Some of the comments I have received were left at past versions of my website. Some have been emailed directly and reposted here by permission of the student. I invite you to read the comments below. If you would, I ask you to post your comments using the form at the bottom of the page. Click on the comments button below if you don’t see the comments and submission form.
When I was in Raleigh, I used to take lessons From Don almost every Monday and Tuesday night. I met a lot of great friends during the classes taught by Don, Madeline and Bonnie.
Thanks Don
Thank You for the great step you taught us at the 2006 Fall Cyclone. It is one we will practice and get down pat and use while enjoying the dance. This is the first time we had the chance to take your class and enjoyed it very much. Thanks Again. Terry
Hi Don,
I wanted to drop you a line to let you know that Mike & myself really enjoyed the shag lessons this month. We are hoping to attend your workshops when you have them scheduled and can’t wait to try out the steps at our Club Christmas Party.
We have been practicing our steps and are getting better every day. Make sure you pass along the thank you to Madeline as well. Hope to hear from you soon.
Thanks again,
Robin & Mike Harris
Bobby and I started taking lessons on Tuesday nights about a year and a half ago and have been taking almost every Tuesday since then. We have learned so many new steps and techniques and it has made our dancing a lot more interesting and fun. More importantly, though, are the friends we’ve made during this time. It’s true that shaggers are great people and Don and Bonnie are superb teachers and a hoot to boot!!
Many thanks..
I took very concentrated shag lessons from you back in the summer. I can’t believe how much I learned in the two afternoon/6 hour crash course you gave me. It was intense work but I don’t know when I’ve ever had so much fun. You made it very easy and you are a great instructor. Only problem I have now is that I can’t find a partner as good as you! I’ll be back this summer for a refresher course and new steps!
Thanks again!
Jenny Jenkins
For years I’ve been watching and admiring your shagging, Don, and finally I had the opportunity to learn from you. Your teaching style made me remember what we’d learned. Having the handouts explaining the steps will help me better retain what you taught. Kudos to you and Madeline and Bonnie for your patience, particularly when we couldn’t get the easy steps.
I look forward to the next class and the next and the next.
Thanks for providing the classes and the workshops and for keeping shag dancing alive!
What can I say to one of the people that have actually changed our lives. Bill and I are so glad that we walked into Reds one Friday night and discovered Shag dancing. Once we found it and found our wonderful teachers, you and Bonnie, or lives have never been the same.
I recommend you and Bonnie all the time and will be forever grateful for what you have taught us and the great friends we have met. Bill and I enjoy dancing and just being around the shag dancing world. So we say to you and all that you have taught us, thanks!!!!
My wife and I started taking lessons from Don when we first started dating and looked forward to it every week! It was something we could laugh at ourselves and had fun EVERY week! (Actually I think it was Don laughing at me trying to get the steps down!)
While we haven’t been able to get back to the lessons lately (baby came along, so we have been trying to teach him the basic!), we are looking forward to getting back to Don’s class! (Hopefully before the child goes to college!)
Thank you for being a GREAT instructor. January will be the beginning of my 5th year of lessons. (Should I be telling that? How many pivot classes would that equate to?) I’ve taken with a regular partner and without one. Not having a regular partner has not stopped me from taking the classes. I always have a great time and learn something new in each class. Remembering is the problem!!!
And have I mentioned the fun?!!! We always laugh a lot. I have made a lot friends. The dance classes are a great social outlet.
Don is not only an excellant dancer, he has teaching this dance mastered as well(if you are going to learn to shag, you might as well take from the best).
Thanks again Don!!! See you in January.
Just wanted to let you know how much Lara and I have enjoyed the lessons that you and Bonnie teach each month. We really look forward to Tuesday nights to get back on the floor. A great bunch of students and of course two great instructors make it a lot of fun.
Thanks for all that you have done
I wanted to comment on here and say how much I enjoy shagging now after taking both beginner lessons and four months of intermediate lessons with you and Ms. Madaline and Ms. Bonnie. What sparked my interest in the dance of shag was when I was on a retreat with NC State and was amazed at the number of people that knew how to shag and how much fun it appeared to be. So I enlisted in lessons through the summer and now know more shagging moves than most of my friends from that retreat. Just over this past Christmas break I went on a winter conference with campus crusade and every single night after our meetings a bunch of us would get together and shag in the hotel until the wee hours of the morning…and I had all kinds of guys asking me where I learned all my fancy footwork from and I was able to teach many of them some of the footwork and they absolutely loved it. I had no idea that I would be more advanced than many of them that first inspired me to want to learn how to shag…but after taking lessons I feel so much more confident about getting out on the dancefloor and even teaching others. Several of my friends have seen me dance or hear how much I’ve enjoyed it that they have now decided to start taking lessons and I’m so happy!! I loved the way the steps are taught broken down peice by peice and by the end of the night I’ve got it down pat. I’ve enjoyed it so much that I have decided to come back and start up lessons again next week and can’t wait!!
Thank you so much,
Kristi Tutor
Anyone thinking about taking shag lessons needs to stop thinking and JUST DO IT! To learn from a LEGEND like Don Bunn is way too awesome to describe! He has instilled a LOVE for this dance in my husband and me.
Thank you, Don, for your expertise and THANK YOU especially for providing an extra-curricular activity that my husband and I can enjoy together!
Newsflash from Creedmoor!!! “Keep your butt still…don’t look at your feet…don’t lead”…Oh, how fun my 4 months of lessons were with you, Don and Bonnie! I am so grateful to you both for introducing me to the “shag world”…the fun, the fellowship, the dancing and the many new friends have saved my life! Not only are you both great instructors but you have become very dear friends!!! Forever Grateful! Karen
You may not remember me. I took your beginning and intermediate classes a year ago last Fall. My name is Brenda Baker. Another member of your class was a gentleman by the name of Gary Case. We were dance partners every so often. Just thought I’d write and let you know we are definitely “dance” partners now. Thanks for having Shag classes. We will always remember them. We are hoping to be one of those “and they lived happily ever after” couples.
We just wanted you to know. Have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.
Brenda Baker & Gary Case
I wanted to let you know that Dan and I really enjoyed the shag lessons. We also have some good news to share - we just got engaged over Christmas. We are planning a June 2 wedding so we are very busy right now with wedding plans. We may try to get back into shag lessons after things calm down a bit. We have practiced some, but not a lot since the end of the lessons.
Hope all is well with you,
Katie Weaver
Hello! I wanted to share this with you – last night we went to the Longbranch to see Sea Cruz (Mitch is good friends with Butch) and there was a group of people (18 – 25yr old) that were fantastic dancers. One in particular was sensational! After the girls finally gave him a minute to breathe, my friend Michelle ran over to ask if he was a dance instructor, dance major, child prodigy – you name it ~ turns out, he’s only been dancing a little over a year and guess who his teacher is….YOU! Wow! He was with a huge group of shaggers – some really good, some were just learning (hence the reason we thought he was the teacher!). I was amazed. So, I decided then and there, Mitch and I have got to come back! We had such a great time and it was great for us as a couple! So, please let me know when and where and we’ll bring our non-pivoting selves on over! I’m sure that guy must be getting private lessons, right?? Once I heard that you were his teacher, I could totally tell – very smooth, very good – and great turns!!!!
Mitch and Carrie
My husband and I have been taking lessons since September 2005 and we love it. We find this is excellent couple time and look forward to every class. Don and Madaline are excellent instructors
I have taken beginner shag lessons twice before under different instructors and this class was the best. I think I will be able to retain more of what I learn.
I was recommended to Don by a friend who told me that if I wanted to learn how to shag “correctly”, Don would be the one to show me. His lessons are very easy and I enjoyed taking his class immensely.
Don, Thank you and Madeline so much for the lessons! Brandy and I had a ball and will be back for the intermediate class. We had learned the basic, start, male and female turn last fall but were not sure if we were doing it right. We took your class and learned from the best. You and Madeline helped us to feel much more comfortable about what we were doing by showing us the proper techniques. It made everything easier. Then you threw in the pivot and really blew our minds!! Hopefully, we can get that down during the next lessons.
I just want to encourage everyone that will to get involved. We have already made some great friends in the “shag” and beach music circles. “Shaggers” are the best bunch of folks to hang-out with in the world! I have also developed a passion for the history and legacy of shaggin’ and beach music. There is just something special about walking into “Fat Harolds” and being in the prescence of a legend and seeing all the history on the walls. It makes me proud to have been born and raised in the heart of Beach Music country. We both hope to become better dancers so we can carry on the legacy and pass it down to our kids.
Back in 2000 my friend Danny and I took shag from Don for about a year and I fell in love with shagging. After he found a girlfriend (at shag lessons no less) we continued to dance and have great fun for all these years. After getting married and moving from Raleigh I missed shagging so much. Recently I have moved close enough to once again get to Raleigh so I am now brushing up and renewing my mind on the mirror steps and of course no other instructor would do but Don! He is the very best and Debbie is totally terrific!
If you ever want to dance, see Don and Debbie and learn to shag. It’s the most fun you will ever have.
Thank you! These lessons have been so helpful and discovering TJ’s Night Life is just the icing on the cake! You have taught my fiance, Peter, (a man with two left feet) how to shag! My family is all about shagging and I have tried to learn from them for years. Unfortunately, they were never as descriptive, explanatory or as patient as you and your fellow instructors have been!
Thank you so much for making it so easy and FUN to learn how to shag!
Thank you Don and Debbie!
Don thank you for your time and patience.I like how you keep the instructions simple and the way you repeat them enough to get the “hang ” of it. This was a great class to start out with.
Don thank you so much for the beginner lessons. Nick and I are looking forward to beginning intermediate next week! We love the class and TJ’s!
I just want to thank you for everything you taught us in our May – Beginner shag lessons. The trip from Wilson to Raleigh each Monday night was well worth it all. We had a blast learning from you and Madeline. Your patience and instructions made learning the dance easy. I wish you the best of luck as you continue to teach.
Thank you for all that you have done for the beach music industry.
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