The Irish sailors came over and did these funny but amazingly complicated steps to a dance called the hornpipe. However, they kept their arms at their sides and crossed their feet one in front of the other. The Americans tried emulating this new form, but their hands swayed about and their feet went out to the sides. Thus, the birth of clogging and tap. The dances in this style are called, the hard reel , the treble jig , and of course, still, the hornpipe .
Soft shoe is very similar to ballet in nature and extremely athletic as well.
An expert dancer can only do about 4 minutes of true, vigorous dancing without losing stamina. Anyway, it too has very complicated footwork, but is choreographed to be graceful and flowing. The dances in this style are called the reel , the jig , and the slip jig . The various stages of being a step dancer begin sometime in your childhood. Students from other schools come and compete to live music for medals and trophies.