page_title: Irish stepdance
section_title: Soft shoes
hierarchical_section_title: Irish stepdance / Shoes / Soft shoes
caption_attribution_description: English: Irish dance soft or ghillie (or gillie) shoes on dancer with poodle socks.
context_page_description: Irish stepdance is an style of performance dance with its roots in traditional Irish dance. It is generally characterized by a stiff upper body and fast and precise movements of the feet. It can be performed solo or in groups. Aside from public dance performances, there are also stepdance competitions all over the world. These competitions are often called Feiseanna. In Irish dance culture, a Feis is a traditional Gaelic arts and culture festival. Costumes are considered important for stage presence in competition and performance Irish stepdance. In many cases, costumes are sold at high prices and can even be custom made. Males and females can both perform Irish stepdance but for the most part in today's society, the dance remains predominantly female. This means that the costumes are mainly dresses. Each dress is different, with varying colors and patterns, designed to attract the judge's eye in competitions and the audience's eye in performance. General appearance besides the costume is also equally important. Dancers would typically curl their hair before each competition. Many dancers invest in curled wigs that match their hair color.
context_section_description: Until the early 20th century, reels and slip jigs were performed in ordinary walking shoes, as with heavy jigs and hornpipes. Beginning at the dancing competition of the 1924 Tailteann Games in Dublin, a style of ballet pump held on by a looped piece of elastic was introduced for these dances. The increased popularity of these shoes over the following decades contributed to a more balletic style in the slip jig which eventually led to this dance being performed exclusively by women.
  In the latter half of the 20th century, the pumps changed to a low cut type with crossed laces similar to the Scottish ghillie. This modern type of shoe, however, differs from the traditional Scottish footwear with a shorter toe box and round laces. A number of variations on this type are available, including variants with softer leather and split soles. This change was motivated by a desire to highlight the position of feet to adjudicators, as the usual black colour of the pumps contrasted with the exposed white of the poodle socks. The flexible nature of these shoes enables rapid and graceful movement as well as elevation in the dancer's performance.
  These soft shoes cost around $40 when purchased new.
  Until the 1970s, it was common for men to wear the pumps as well, particularly when competing in the slip jig, but at this time, An Coimisiún introduced legislation restricting their use to boys under the age of 11. Consequently, a new style of shoe was adopted for men similar to the contemporary hard shoe, with the toe piece and ankle strap removed but the fibreglass heel retained. This second type of soft shoe, often known as the "reel shoe", is worn exclusively by male dancers, although younger male dancers are occasionally encouraged to begin in jazz shoes which are similar apart from the heel.
caption: Soft shoes
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