Irish dance is a style of dance which was first practiced in the 1800s. The style requires a lot of leg work and straight arms. While many styles of dance only require one type of shoe, irish dance requires two. Irish dance is a high energy style of dance, easily compared to sprinting.
You need many things including:
Hards Shoes are leather shoes that look similar to tap shoes. Though they make similar noises, a hard shoe is quite different. While the tao shoes has a metal plate on the bottom of the shoes. Hard Shoes have a thick piece of fiber glass on the toe and a hard piece of plastic on the heel. This allows the shoe and dancer to have a loud bang sound instead of a high pitched tap. Along with the fiber glass the toe piece has a flat part on the ver tip of the shoes. this allows irish dancers to go on block. This is similar to going on point in ballet. As a trend, irish dancers also tape their shoes on with while electrical tape. This is said to make your shoes look tighter and your foot look more pointed on stage.
Soft shoes are leather shoes that are similar to jazz shoes. While most jazz shoes are slip ons, soft shoes have a intricate lacing pattern. The soft shoes also have a thick light colored leather strip on the bottom. This is used for support and extra protection for your feet. Similar to the hard shoes, dancers are known to use white laces on their shoes, this again gives the dancer a fitting look to the shoe and a nice point while the girl is dancing.
Boys wear soft shoes as well, though they look quite different. While girl soft shoes have laces work similar jazz shoes. Boy soft shoes look like jazz shoes. They are make of black leather with a small heel. They also have a simple lacing system. Once they get to a more advanced level. The dancers are able to add a fiber glass heel to allow them to make sounds while dancing.
Irish dance dresses are not like every day dresses. They are quite stiff and require a lot of matiance. When a dancer first begins, they usually start with a school dress. This is typically a dress using the school's logo, colors, and a pattern of the dance teacher's choice. Only certain seamstrices are noramlly able to create or alter irish dance dresses. Other times, schools will wear a black leotard with a skirt with the school's colors and logos. Once they get to a more advanced level in competition, dancers are able to get a solo dress. These are dresses that can be creates with any color and any pattern. They also are adorned with jewels and stones in order for the dancer to stand out on stage.