Steps and Styles

Step after step, jump after jump! There are so many steps to learn in Irish dance. There are six different styles of Irish Step Dance. The reel, slip jig, light jig, hop jig, treble jig, and horn pipe. So much to learn! You have to wear a certain type of dance shoe for the steps. There is the soft shoe which you do most of your high jumps and kicks in. Then there is the hard shoe, it’s like a tap shoe. The hard shoe is what you do most of your batters in. A batter is just like tapping in a tap shoe, but you can jump and click your heals in. It actually matters what music you’re dancing to because you need to dance to the beat. A reel step 4/4 time and the slip jig a 6/8 time. I have to say being a dancer myself; Irish Dance can get pretty tough at times.