Soft Shoe Dancing

lujan · Joined: 06 Jun 2005 Posts: 27 Location: Sydney, Australia

Traditionally, soft shoe dances, like slip jigs and some reels or hornpipes were done by women only, whereas men tended to dance heavy or hard shoe reels only. With the resurgence of Irish dancing lately, but the lack of men interested in it. (I'm the only male step dancer in a class of about 10 women. its a nightmare ;)). Women have started learning the hard shoe dances.

Has anyone here seen many men learning the soft shoe dances? Iam quite eager to learn them, as I think dances like the slip jig are the epitomy of Irish dancing, I have not yet asked my teacher if she will teach me, although I have several friends who know the dances well enough to teach me if she wont. But I am curious if anyone else knows of men learning them.

dancersdreamland · Posted: Thu Jun 09, 2005 11:08 pm Post subject:

Welcome to the Forums, lujan!

In the Irish class I took a few years ago, there weren't any men even in the class...which is a real shame.

If I recall correctly; however, the slip jig may be danced and usually is danced with both men and women. I'm not sure if the men actually wear gillies or if they control the sound of their hard shoes. I believe a sample of this dance is "Dance Above the Rainbow..." from Lord of the Dance or "Siamsa."

I would recommend talking with your instructor to determine what's best for you and what will help you best achieve your dancing goals. Please let us know anything you find out so we can all be filled with the knowledge.

I look forward to hearing from you on the message boards!

lujan · Joined: 06 Jun 2005 Posts: 27 Location: Sydney, Australia

well I got lessons from a teacher last night, we were just playing a cd through dancing to each tune in order, and we got to the slip jig and she showed me the first 2 steps.

If only I'd picked up my soft shoes last week, my knees now have bruises from the hopping :(

Medira · Posted: Thu Jul 07, 2005 7:03 pm Post subject:

eep! That's not good!

Ice is your friend...

lujan · Joined: 06 Jun 2005 Posts: 27 Location: Sydney, Australia

I should have known better than to dance in hard shoes, I ended up dancing in socks, but not before I hit my legs a couple of times.

Medira · Posted: Fri Jul 08, 2005 2:28 pm Post subject:

I hope the bruises aren't deep. That sounds painful. In a case like that, I prefer to dance barefoot. :P

lujan · Joined: 06 Jun 2005 Posts: 27 Location: Sydney, Australia

nah, almost gone now. I remembered to not hit hard.

dancersdreamland · Posted: Tue Jul 12, 2005 6:15 pm Post subject:

Sorry to hear about the bruises! Hope your next class goes better...

lujan · Joined: 06 Jun 2005 Posts: 27 Location: Sydney, Australia

as long as I remember to dance in socks, I'll be fine. The annoying thing is, my soft shoes are ready to pickup, I just haven't had the time to get to the shoe store, which isn't in my regular area of travel.

dancersdreamland · Posted: Wed Jul 13, 2005 10:02 pm Post subject:

Bummer...hopefully you'll be able to swing by soon!

Plumeria · Posted: Mon May 01, 2006 11:09 pm Post subject:

I always see guys doing soft shoe dances. Of course they don't wear ghilles like girls, but they are still doing the same softshoe dance.

Roro · Joined: 13 Aug 2006 Posts: 1 Location: USA

Where you get it???

Raguri · Joined: 03 Sep 2006 Posts: 1 Location: USA

Achtung!!

angel winns · Joined: 11 Jun 2005 Posts: 129 Location: Southern CA

We got to take Irish dancing this summer in our summer technique program and it was fun. I just used my jazz shoes and it worked great. I don't like keeping my arms straight tho. I'm so used to using my upper body...but I did really like Irish and I LOVE to watch it. It's amazing.

GotGhillies · Joined: 02 Mar 2007 Posts: 2 Location: Dancing

In my school we do have boys, and even in my class there's a boy. He learns everything we do, except the slip jig. The dances also vary because of gender, but basically they're the same.