Dancing costumes

Most women in Ireland would have gone barefoot until over a century ago, and this gave them a grace and bearing which today's dancers still strive to achieve. Around 1924 soft shoes were worn for the first time by girls dancing jigs, reels and slip jigs. The men, because they worked on the land, wore home-made raw-hide shoes or brogues which would, of course, have been light on the feet and suitable for dancing. These shoes can still be seen on the Aran Islands where they are called Broga uirleathair. Some fishermen on the west coast wore wooden soled taps or clogs, and when it became illegal to teach traditional music, the rhythm of the dance tune was passed down by tapping the hard shoes on the flag stones in the kitchen. Modern dancers wear specially made hornpipe shoes, and for reels and jigs soft shoes akin to ballet pumps. The crios, worn by some dancers, is a coloured hand-woven belt originally worn by Aran Islanders.

Nowadays each school of dancing has its own distinct costumes and an expert can identify which school a dancer attends from simply examining the colour and design. For group dances, all dancers wear the standard school costume. Adult female dancers wear a skirt and men wear a jacket and trousers. Male dancers at all levels have a choice of a kilt or trousers and a shirt. When a female dancer reaches a high standard of skill and displays perfection in competitions, she may wear a solo dress with her own unique choice of colour and design. The solo dress is only worn during competitions. The solo dress is a sign that a dancer has achieved a high level of skill in Irish step dancing. Solo dance dresses can range from £400 to £600 and are made by professional dressmakers who specialise in dancing costumes. Today there is a move for dancers to wear a simpler form of dress and return to the plain style of dress worn by peasants two hundred years ago.

Illustrated by Anne Farrall