Irish dance

Irish dance is a type of folk dance that is usually associated with the world-famous "Riverdance[?]" or "Lord of the Dance[?]." It is generally characterized by the stiff upper-body and the quick and precise movements of the feet.

One folk-tale about Irish dance is that it originated when dance was forbidden in Ireland. When people wanted to dance, they would just move their feet and if anyone happened to look in the window, they would see only the motionless upper-body and think nothing of it. However, there is no evidence that this claim is true. It is certainly true that Irish dance seems quite related to Scottish sword dancing[?].

There are two types of shoes generally worn in Irish dance: hard shoe and soft shoe. The hard shoe is often mistaken for a tap shoe, but in fact, there are no taps on the bottom of the shoe. (Although Michael Flatley[?] did attach taps to his shoes to make them louder). There are usually pieces of wood or fiberglass attached, depending on the desired sound. The soft shoe is like a ballet slipper, with soft bottoms and a flexible body. These soft shoes also lace up from the top of the slipper and up your ankle. This shoe does not make sounds.