Irish Dancing is a sport that began centuries ago in Ireland, and has since migrated across the globe due to its intoxicating blend of rhythmic vitality, athleticism, and grace. Click Here for a history of Irish Dancing, by Don Haurin Ann Richens.

Step Dancing, Set Dancing, and Ceili Dancing
There are three types of Irish Dancing that make up the tradition: Step Dancing, Ceili Dancing, and Set Dancing. Step Dancing is the most formalized of the three, and is, for the most part, solo-oriented. Ceili Dancing and Set Dancing are both social dance forms, and are performed with other dancers. The Dudney school focuses mainly on Step dancing, and this webpage will discuss the basics of this type of Irish Dance. For information on Ceili Dancing and Set Dancing in DC, go to the Greater Washington Ceili Club website.

Shoes
Step dancers wear two different types of shoes: Soft Shoes and Hard Shoes. Girls and boys wear the same type of hard shoe, but wear different soft shoes.

Girls' Soft Shoes "Pumps" or "Ghillies"	Boys' Soft Shoes "Pumps"	Hard Shoes "Jig shoes"

Music and Dances
Irish Step dancing is executed to the traditional body of music of Ireland, consisting of the Reel, Jig, Slip Jig, and Hornpipe. Reel and hornpipe tunes have a 4/4 or 2/4 time signature, the hornpipe generally slower than the reel. Jigs are in 6/8 time and slip jigs in 9/8 time. Dances are choreographed in groupings called "steps" that take 16 bars of music to execute (with a few exceptions). Steps begin and end in strict alignment with one of these four basic types of music.
Some dances are restricted to a certain sex or to a certain type of shoe. The table below outlines the execution of dances to the four basic types of music.

	Music
	Reel		Jig		Slip Jig		Hornpipe
	Soft Shoe Light Reel	Hard Shoe Treble Reel	Soft Shoe Light Jig and Hop Jig	Hard Shoe Treble Jig	Soft Shoe	Hard Shoe	Soft Shoe	Hard Shoe
Ladies	X	X	X	X	X			X
Gents	X	X	X	X				X

The Irish Music tradition contains thousands of reels, jigs, slip jigs, and hornpipes. Generally, an Irish Dancer need not know what specific tune is being played, only the type of tune. This is one of the characteristics of Irish Dance that makes it particularly easy to perform. As long as a musician is playing a reel, and a dancer is dancing a reel, they can perform together without any prior preparation.

There is, however, an additional category of danced called the "set dances." Set dances are specific tunes that are played for Irish Dance competition. Once dancers reach a certain competitive level, they are required to choose a specific set dance tune, and dance a piece tailored to fit the tune. The set dances are all hard shoe dances. A few set dances are "traditional," meaning that the dances are danced the same way, independent of dancer or dance school.

Feisanna(Irish Dance Competitions, pronounced fesh-AHN-uh)

Irish Step Dancing is competitive. The table below describes the hierarchy of feisanna and organizations throughout the World.

Irish Step Dance at the Region, Country, and World Levels

Performance Aspect

Attire
There is no standard for practice attire for Irish Dance. Most kids wear shorts and special Irish Dance socks called poodle socks.
However, in competition, the attire is very strict. Girls wear a "team dress" if they are competing in non-solo competition, or if they are beginners, or if they are young. When a female dancer reaches a certain level of competition (usually prizewinner status, to be explained later) she is expected to wear a "solo" dress in competition. Solo dresses are designed to be one-of-a-kind, and it is up to the teacher, parents, student, and dress-maker to determine the details about the dress design/size/colors/etc. A male dancer does not wear an elaborate costume. Most boys wear black trousers and a collared-shirt, but some wear traditional kilts. Some choose to add an embroidered belt. Team costumes (femals and male) are the same among all dancers in a particular school, and are usually designed by the teacher. Below are some samples of solo and team costumes for boys and girls.

Solo Dresses

Solo Boys Costumes

Team Dresses