Irish stepdance many this was a betrayal of tradition, but to some it was a way of expanding Irish culture and became widely accepted. Following after Riverdance was Lord of the Dance and many other theatrical productions based on Irish stepdance. Michael Flatley, an Irish stepdancer, became a well known name within these shows. Two types of shoes are worn in Irish stepdance; hard shoes, which make sounds similar to tap shoes, and soft shoes (called Ghillies), which are similar to ballet slippers. The dances for soft shoe and hard shoe are generally different and go by different names. Different music with
Russell Dumas (choreographer) Russell Dumas (choreographer) Russell Dumas (born 17 October 1946) is an Australian dancer, choreographer and writer. Russell Dumas was born in Brisbane, and studied both classical and modern dance. He first began stage performance with J.C. Williamson and later danced internationally with the London Festival Ballet, Ballet Rambert, Nederlands Dans Theater, the Royal Ballet, Culberg Ballet, Strider Dance Company, Trisha Brown and Twyla Tharp. In 1976 Dumas founded the Dance Exchange in Sydney with Nanette Hassall, Eva Karczag and David Hinkfuss. He continues to serve as artistic director. His choreography is often performed without lighting, costumes or music and is