Irish Dances

Irish dancers learn three different styles of dance: soft shoe solo dances, hard shoe solo dances and team dances. For most of these dances, choreography is custom to each dance school and changes constantly as a dancer progresses. Each style of dancing is done to music with unique and specific rhythms and speeds. On top of performing the dances to the right music, dancers are also expected to carry out very specific, challenging technique. This section should help clarify some of what dancers can expect to learn throughout their dance career.

Soft shoe solo dances

Soft shoe dances can be both athletic and elegant depending on the style of the individual dancer. There are four solo soft shoe dances a dancer will learn:

• Reel – danced in 2/4 or 4/4 time, can be done in soft shoe or hard shoe. When boys reach championship, this is the only soft shoe dance they do in competition • Light jig – danced in 6/8 time, and only performed in competition to the Open Prizewinner level, often referred to just as the jig

• Slip jig – danced in 9/8 time, traditionally done only by girls but now done by boys until they reach championship levels

Hard shoe solo dances

Hard shoe dances are what Irish dance is known for: fast feet, intricate footwork and percussive power. The hard shoe dances include:

• Treble/heavy jig – danced in 6/8 time, and is performed in a faster, more traditional speed by beginners, and a slower speed by more advanced dancers

• Hornpipe – danced in 2/4 or 4/4 time, and like the treble jig is performed in a faster speed by beginners, and a slower speed by more advanced dancers

• Traditional sets (also called trads) – this is a category of dance that includes both treble jigs and hornpipes. Traditional set dances have standard choreography, standard pieces of music, and are performed to a standard speed, so every dancer performs (near) identical version of these seven dances. The seven traditional sets are: St. Patrick’s Day, The Job of Journeywork, The Garden of Daisies, The Blackbird, King of the Fairies, Three Sea Captains and Jockey to the Fair

• Non-traditional sets (also called contemporary sets/ nontrad) – this is another category of dance that includes both treble jigs and hornpipes. While each non-traditional set has a standardized piece of music, there is no standard choreography or standard speed. A non-traditional set is a dancer’s opportunity to showcase his/her strengths, so the choreography is usually tailored to an individual dancer. Teachers are responsible for selecting the music and creating the choreography. There are 40 different non-traditional set options.

Team dances

Team dances are those performed in groups. Team dances can be performed in competitions, festivals or performances. Team dances are a wonderful example of the precision and unison Irish dancing is famous for. Often in team dancing, dancers are partnered in “couples” which is a result of Irish dance’s historically social roots. There are three main types of team dances in Irish dance.

• Ceilis – these are traditional dances with standard choreography. There are 30 ceili dances within the CLRG repertoire, some in reel timing, some in jig timing

• Figures – these can also be done to reel or jig timing; however, the choreography is unique to each school. The most common figures are two hands and three-hands but can be done up 16-hands and beyond

• Performance routines – particularly with the popularity of Riverdance and Lord of the Dance, performance-style routines have become a popular way for dancers to try something new and expand their skills. Performance routines cannot be done at feiseanna and are only for fun or exhibition.

Irish Dance Music

As outlined above, Irish dancing is done to specific types of tunes. These are reels, light jigs, slip jigs, hornpipes and treble/heavy jigs. Depending on a dancer’s competitive level, they will perform their steps to different speeds of music. Below is a table outlining the speeds used in our CLRG feiseanna.

Beginner Reel

Reel (122), Light Jig (115), Slip Jig (122)

Advanced Beginner

Reel (122), Light Jig (115), Slip Jig (122),

Treble Jig (92), Hornpipe (138),

Novice

Reel (113), Light Jig (115), Slip Jig (113), Treble Jig (92 or 73), Hornpipe (138 or 113), Note: Novice dancers may choose between traditional and contemporary speeds for Treble Jig and Hornpipe

Prizewinner & Champ

Reel (113) (boys and girls) OR Slip Jig (113) (girls only), AND Treble Jig (73) or Hornpipe (113)

At feiseanna, music is played live for dancers and many feis musicians sell their music for dancers to practice with. Many Irish dance musicians have music available for purchase on iTunes or Spotify. Others are exclusively available from

two Irish dance music streaming apps: “Feis”  and “Beat- Irish Dance Feis Music”. You can search on iTunes or Spotify with the name of the tune and appropriate speed (e.g., Reel 122) to find tunes. Additionally, for beginner speeds, you can search terms such as easy, beginner or traditional (e.g., easy reel