Irish dance

         There are many different types of dancing that have to do with history and heritage but today I'm going to talk about Irish dance which is a form of dance that originated in Ireland. The main style of the dance is that your feet and legs are doing all the actual dancing and your upper body stays still. The history of doing this is kind of unknown but there are a few theories, like one is that a long time ago Ireland was taken over and all thing enjoyable were banned and that includes dancing so when a guard were to look in your window they couldn't tell that you're dancing. Another idea was that it was disrespectful to raise your arms in the presents of a queen so you would dance with your arms down. Others say it has to do with ancient culture's circle dancing but known of them have really been confirmed.                                                                                                                            The attire of when your performing are commonly either a dance school vest/dress or depending on the level a solo dress or solo suit. You get a solo dress depending on what level your school says although its normally the third highest level, solo dresses are cool because they can be custom made for you and the design can be literally anything your school approves of and you like. The dress is filled with embroidery designs and crystals, but the dresses cost  from $300 all the way to $2000! Other things that you wear during a feis (Irish dance competition) are big curly bun wigs, poodle socks which are long white socks with frills. Gillies which is one of the shoes you dance in and the other shoe is called just "hard shoes" which are kind of like tap shoes, you also wear a hair piece to match you solo dress and a lot of make up.                                                          Now lets talk about the levels of Irish dance, there are 6 different types of levels it starts with: beginner one, beginner two, novice, prizewinner, Preliminary champion, and open champion. I'm personally a Preliminary champion and each level has a challenge to move up to the next and all of them have perks and harder dances when you move up.                                                                                            Finally I want to talk about the routine of a lot of dancers. Most dancers dance for about 2-7 times a week though near the time of bigger competitions some dance from 4-7 days. The dance takes a lot of effort and time but i really enjoy it.                                                                                                                                          All in all i think that Irish dance is one of the best forms of dance and you should consider trying it, it could teach you a lot of new skills and help with flexibility, persistence, and teamwork!