Irish Dance Shoes

June 10, 2013

Irish dance shoes

I am an Irish dancer. I have been a dancer since 2002. In Irish dance there are two types of shoes each representing different styles of dancing.

Soft Shoes

In Irish soft shoe there are four traditional dances; Reel, Hop Jig, Single Jig, and Slip Jig. These are lively and bouncy dances. They are danced up on the toe, they are flowy and formal. When judges look at technique they are looking for strict foot placement, arch in the foot and pointed toe. They are feminine and pretty.

          I am a pair of soft shoes. One of those formal shoes that does exactly what is expected. The honor roll shoes. The college bound shoes. The kind of shoe that didn’t study biology, but took all the English courses. Studied grammar and literature because both are formal, sexy and romantic. I’m the shoe who started Irish and Scottish dancing because she read a romantic novel about Scotland.

            Being formal, poised, and precise isn’t all bad. It makes you determined to be the best teacher for the school year. It makes you a leader in your area and building. It makes you a planner, respected, and romantic. All of these qualities make good planners; for teaching or wedding planning. Irish soft shoes show professionalism. I am a professional pair of experienced Irish soft shoe.

            I’m proud of my work and my dance. I identify myself through my career and my dance.

 Hard Shoes

            Traditional hard shoe dances are Hornpipe and Treble Jig. There is also a Treble Reel  

    (not generally “traditional”). These dances are fast and intricate. They are loud and “stompy”.

    They are also dance up on toe (but not like ballet). These dances are fast and require

    determination and stamina. The judges look for toe and arch placement, precise placements

    and correct beats. They are loud and boisterous. 

            I am the hard shoe. This is the loud, busy, complicated kind of shoe. Everything is a [dance] production. These productions aren’t loud by design; it’s just the nature of the shoes. I was the first to go to college; not just to college, all the way to Iowa. I’m the loud shoe that plans their own travel, to places like San Juan, WA; Scotland; New York; and Hawaii. The professional soft shoe needed a job, so the hard shoe found one, in Grandview, MO. The hard shoe found a place to continue Irish dance and works determinedly to learn those hard shoe steps. These shoes have also earned medals in Irish Dance at age 34.

            These shoes live fast, hectic lives. Making time for long distance family, students, and planning a wedding to take place in Michigan, all are productions for the loud, boisterous, “stompy” dances that the shoes like.