Irish Dance for Adult is currently on pause Fall 2023

Irish Step Dancing for Adults – Soft Shoe Dances
This is where it starts! Soft shoe dances (also called “light” dances) provide the technical foundation for modern style Irish dance. Students should expect to skip, hop, and jump while maintaining their balance, posture, and poise. We’ll sample jigs and reels – the two most common musical time signatures for soft shoe dances. Students should wear Irish ghillies, ballet slippers, jazz shoes, dance sneakers, or any shoes that allow for pivoting quickly and kicking and jumping without losing your shoes!

Irish Step Dancing for Adults – Hard Shoe Dances  
This class is for dancers who want to make some noise! With its high-energy percussive footwork, Irish hard shoe step dance is the most recognizable form of Irish dance seen around the world today. An early ancestor of tap dancing, Irish hard shoe step dance simultaneously combines rhythm and flash with strength and grace. Each multi-week session we will focus on one routine that highlights a particular time signature of Irish dance music (e.g. jigs or hornpipes). Students with no Irish dance experience are welcome, and those with some experience will be exposed to new dances & styles to expand their repertoire. Students should dress for movement. Any smooth-soled shoes are fine when first trying the class, but Irish hard shoes or black tap shoes are recommended for students who plan to keep dancing.

EYM Irish 2