Which Jig Shoe Would Be The Best For Me?

The choice of a heavy shoe type basically depends from personal requirements. E.g. how often and how long as well as what you will be dancing (learner, hobby dancer, principal dancer etc.). Simply use our information guide below, to choose a matching jig shoe type:

Choosing A Dance Shoe According to Level & Experience

Appropriate to beginners, amateurs, children

Leather soled shoes will only develop "flex" according to how much use the dancer gives them. The big advantage of this for beginners is that the shoes will be reasonably "stiff" for a little while, until the dancer progresses to more complex steps which require greater foot movement. As the dancer progresses, so does the degree of flex, however the shoe will always retain sufficient support for the dancer.

Maybe you would like to try Irish dancing at first to see if this will be yours or not. From that point of view it's less a question of footwear but rather a question of money. Appropriate shoes will be:

Appropriate to advanced dancers

Suede soled hard shoes offer very little support for the foot and ankle, even with ankle straps. While this is not necesssarily a problem for dancers who have been dancing in hard shoes for a year or two, beginners should be wary about buying suede soled hard shoes as their first shoe. Experienced dancers have developed good strength in the muscles associated with feet, ankles and calves, and are less likely to suffer injury. Less experienced dancers may be more prone to injury in suede soled hard shoes.

Intermediate and open dancers, championship dancers, showdancers and dance teachers as well can choose a ultraflexible black suede sole which do not need a (longer) breaking-in:

Antonio Pacelli Ultra Flexi

Antonio Pacelli Nova

Boyne Walk All Black Storms

Fays Ultra Flexi (Black Suede)

Fays Super Flexi (Grey Suede)

Rutherford Black Suede Superflexi

Choosing The "Correct" Order Size

First of all you will only select your common street shoe size only and we will find out the right model size for you!

But it's also important to know how long and how often a week you are dancing. In consequence we'll also ask you for all important data around to identify an order size when selecting a hard shoe.

Please note that Irish dance shoes should always fit narrow and tight. They'll become wider and a little bit larger after a while depending on your grade!

It's also important to know that the sizes of the different jig shoes generally aren't comparible among each other. E.g. When wearing an Inishfree in size 5 a Fays jig shoe in size 5 would maybe too small! To beginners, Irish dancers without any experiences and Irish dancers who are dancing sometimes only we usually recommend to order hard shoes in your common street shoe size. Experienced dancers sometimes order a half size down.

And don't worry: If a shoe will not fit you can change them! Click here to read more about our return policy.

You will find more information in the item description of a jig shoe model.

Choosing A Tip-/Heel-Combination

Copyright (c) Celtic Dance World Frank Decker

Several factors influence the volume of a jig shoe are:

The type of floor being danced on, the composition of the tip, the experience of the dancer and the power of the dancer. Many of the older dancers and teachers say that the last two points are the critical factors.
There is no doubt that modern composite materials may make a tip sound great with little effort on the part of the dancer, however a strong dancer can make the cheapest tips sound as good as the most expensive tips.
At the end of the day, it is the dancer who drives the shoe, and a dancer who has strength and power (which can only come from regular frequent practice) will make any tip sound loud, sharp and crisp.

Decide between loudness, durability and price

There are different tips and heels available because they are made from different materials which affects on item price, durability and required sound properties. Dance experiences and personal requirements are important for the choice of the mounted tips and heels as well. In addition to the personal dancing technique, room acoustics and condition of the dance floor, the used materials do determine about the sound colour, sound level and durability. To meet all individual requirements you will find different materials and combinations. Particularly the choice of the shoe tips is the decisive factor for sound colour and level.

Durable and moderately loud shoe tips:

Extremely durable and louder:

Extremely durable and very noisy:

Antonio Pacelli Nova with Liberty Tips and Concorde Click Heels

Antonio Pacelli Ultra Flexi with Liberty Tips and Concorde Click Heels

Boyne Walk All Black Storms

Noisy and concisely but moderately durable:

Fays Ultra Flexi Black Suede
Fays Super Flexi (Grey Suede) (when dancing often!)

Model Comparison

	Antonio Pacelli Nova	Antonio Pacelli Superflexi	Antonio Pacelli Ultra Flexi
Tip -Loudness:	Concorde: Liberty:	Leinster:	Concorde: Liberty:
Sole thickness:
Cushioning:
Comfortability:
Durability:
Recommended to:	Experienced dancers (Concorde), Intermediate dancers (Liberty), Feis dancers, Show dancers, Dance instructors	Beginners, "Sometime dancers", Children	Experienced dancers (Concorde), Intermediate dancers (Liberty), Feis dancers, Show dancers, Dance instructors
Tip heigt at the front:	(2.1cm)	(2.1cm)	(2.1cm)
Heel height:	(3.5cm)	(3.5cm)	(3.5cm)
Heel "print":
Country of Origin:	Ireland	Ireland	Ireland
Manufacturer:	Antonio Pacelli	Antonio Pacelli	Antonio Pacelli

Continuation

	Boyne Walk All Black Storms	Fays Ultra Flexi	Fays Grey Suede
Tip -Loudness:
Sole thickness:
Cushioning:
Comfortability:
Durability:
Recommended to:	Intermediate dancers, Feis dancers, Dance instructors, dancers with foot problems	Advanced dancers, Intermediate dancers, Open level dancers, Feis dancers, Show dancers, Dance instructors, not for wide feet!	Advanced dancers, Intermediate dancers, Open level dancers, Feis dancers, Show dancers, Dance instructors, not for wide feet!
Tip heigt at the front:	(2.5cm)	(2.5cm)	(2.5cm)
Heel height:	(3.7cm)	(3.5cm)	(3.5cm)
Heel "print":
Country of Origin:	Ireland	Ireland	Ireland
Manufacturer:	Boyne Walk	Fays Shoes	Fays Shoes