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
James Jamieson (dancer) James Jamieson (dancer) James Jamieson (1920 – December 25, 1993) was a specialist in Highland dancing, best remembered for both performing in and restaging Agnes de Mille's "Brigadoon". Jamieson (also known as Jamie Jamieson) was a native of Evanston, Illinois and studied at Northwestern University. He began his career in ballet, but by the mid-1940s was an internationally recognized Scottish dance champion. In 1947, de Mille hired Jamieson to coach the cast of "Brigadoon" in traditional Scottish dancing, which inaugurated a decades-long association with the musical. (He had earlier worked with de Mille on the first national tour of "Oklahoma!")