Shaw was born in Denver but the family moved to Southern California when he was two years of age.
He graduated from Colorado College in 1913 and married poet Dorothy Stott Shaw.
He formed the Cheyenne Mountain Dancers, a high-school exhibition team, which toured the United States in the 1930s and 1940s, appearing in more than 50 major cities.
"[citation needed] He also wrote books and articles and conducted week-long summer classes for teachers and callers into the 1950s, where he not only taught the dances to other teachers, but taught them also the principles of teaching, and his vision of good dancing.
The Lloyd Shaw Foundation was created in 1964 to preserve and promote his approach to square dancing.