Irish dancing has been around since 400AD. Irish dancers used to dance on street corners and on small stages. Now days we have Irish dancing classes by teachers who have been doing it their whole lives. When you get good at Irish dancing your teacher may ask you to enter a feis. A feis is an Irish dancing competition where girls compete with each other for first place. Usually two girls from different dance studios with different steps go up against each other, so if you mess you will most likely not be able to place. When your dancing you have to wear Irish dancing shoes. There are two types of shoes jig shoes and reel shoes. Jig shoes are often called hard shoes because they are a mixture of tap shoes and clog shoes. Jig shoes are not used for tap and clog dancing even though they are similar. There are two types of steps you would use the jig shoes for they are called the hard jig and the hornpipe. When you are doing these steps you have a choice of fast or slow music. You would normally use the fast music for when you have a step that doesn’t have many parts to it of you think that it is easier. You would normally use slow music when you have many parts to a step so you can fit it all in or you think it is just easier. The other type of shoes are reel shoes often called soft shoes they are called soft shoes because when you dance you don’t hear the clicks and stamps of the shoes. You use these shoes for three steps reels, jigs, and slip jigs. When you dance reel shoe steps you don’t get a choice of fast and slow, everyone dances to the same music.

When you dance you also were beautiful costumes of many different colors. The costumes of today’s dancers reflect the clothing of Ireland from the 8^th century. The dresses woren by women are copies of the traditional Irish peasent dresses. They are designed with hand-embroidered Celtic designs. Men wear kilt or pants and a jacket or a cloak hanging from the shoulder. In the early 1800s female dancers wore ordinary peasant dresses and ribbons formed into flowers and crosses. During 1910 the typical female dance costume consisted of a hooded cloak over a white dress with a sash. Now all dance schools have a school dance that each girl wears until they need a new one. When a female dancer reaches a high standard of skill, she may wear a solo dress with her own color and design. The solo dress is a sign that a dancer has achived a high level of skill in Irish step dancing. Adult female dancers wear a skirt and males wear jackets.