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
Riverdance of the Shannon company, and singers Brian Kennedy and Tsidii Le Loka. Colin Dunne briefly returned to Riverdance in July 2002 to perform his original choreographed piece "Trading Taps" at New York City's One World Jam at Radio City Music Hall. In June 2003, Breandán de Gallaí and Joanne Doyle featured as the lead dancers at the Opening Ceremony of the 2003 Special Olympics in Dublin. The Opening Ceremony performance also featured the longest troupe line ever seen in an Irish dance show, with over 100 dancers. "Riverdance" continues to be performed all over the world, in a diminished format