Ballet Dancing Shoes

Ghillies are specially designed shoes used for several types of dance. They are soft shoes, similar to ballet shoes. They are used by women in Irish Dance, by men in Scottish Country Dance, and by men and women in Highland Dance.

fruit loopsGhillies are soft shoes, almost always made of a supple leather that forms to the foot. They use laces which criss-cross the top of the foot and are tied together similar to a sneaker. Most dancers use laces but some prefer elastics. Some dancers will also wrap the laces/elastics around the soles of the feet.[1] The soles are generally made of leather. They are generally full soles, although some makers do provide split soled ghillies. The most common colour of ghillies are black, although makers do offer other colours such as red, green, and white. White ghillies can be dyed a variety of colours to be used for costumes specially choreographed dances.

Scottish Ghillies are used by men and women for Highland Dancing, and by men for Scottish Country Dancing.[2] They are almost always black, although they can often feature coloured stitching and eyelets. Highland ghillies generally need to be a bit larger than the foot, due to being worn with thick socks or hose.

Irish Ghillies are used by women in Irish Dancing. Men wear a stronger leather shoe similar to jazz shoes. Unlike Scottish Ghillies, the Irish version rarely feature coloured stitching, and they use loops in the leather, as opposed to eyelets, for the laces.

Like ballet shoes, ghillies are generally made from leather, and have similar soles. Many dancers who start in Highland or Irish dancing will first use ballet shoes, as the cost is considerably lower. The most easily recognizable difference between ballet shoes and ghillies is that ghillies use laces to fasten them to the wearers foot, whereas ballet shoes generally use an elastic across the ankle. Other differences are that ghillies do not have a string/elastic around the edge of the shoe to tighten them, and the soles of ghillies are not usually stitched on, but glued on.

Ghillies, or Ghillie Brogues, are also a type of shoe with laces along the instep and no tongue, especially those used for Scottish country dancing. Although now worn for dancing and social events, ghillies originated as a shoe that would dry quickly due to the lack of a tongue, and not get stuck in the mud because of their laces above the ankle.

In a perhaps more recent and certainly competing shoe-related use, Ghillie has also been used to describe laced shoes where rings or loops that project over the tongue are attached to the upper as an alternative to the use of eyelets punctured in the upper; this style is often seen on athletic shoes.

Ghillies can also be used for other forms of dance, such as lyrical.

A ballet tutu is a skirt worn as a costume in a ballet performance, often with attached bodice. It might be single layer, hanging down, or multiple layers starched and strutting out. It tends to add a floating motion when ballerinas dance in them.

kobe bryants shoesTutus are often wrap around skirts, fastened in the waist by ribbons sewn in its waist. They may also be attached to leotards, usually long armed. While romantic tutus and skirts are usually carried in regular clothes bags, the classical ‘pancake’ tutu requires a special round bag for protection and transport: folding it would indeed ruin its shape and looks. Practice tutus (two/three layers of fabric) are seldom protected in a bag.

There are several types of ballet tutu:

Romantic Tutu: three quarter length bell shaped skirt made of tulle with a fitted bodice and sometimes sleeves. The hemline falls between the knee and the ankle. The romantic tutu is free flowing to emphasise lightness and ethereal quality of the romantic ballets such as Giselle or Les Sylphides. It is said to have been invented, or at least popularized, by Marie Taglioni.

Classical Tutu (bell): A short, stiff skirt made with layers of netting with a slight bell shape and fitted bodice. It extends outwards from the hips and does not use a wired hoop. It is usually longer than a classical (pancake) tutu. These are used in the famous ballet paintings by Degas.

Classical Tutu (pancake): A short, stiff skirt made with layers of netting that extends outwards (from the hips), and has a fitted bodice. The pancake style has more layers of net and uses a wire hoop and much hand tacking to keep the layers flat and stiff.

Balanchine/Karinska Tutu: also known as the “powder puff” is similar to the bell and pancake tutu with the exception that no hoops are used and there are fewer layers of netting. The skirt is loosely tacked to give a softer, fuller appearance. This style was designed originally for the ballet version of Georges Bizet’s Symphony in C. It has gained an iconic reputation.

The word tutu may be a corruption of cucu, French baby talk for cul-cul meaning roughly “botty-wotty” (for bottom)[citation needed]. Alternatively, it may derive from tulle, the material from which tutus are often made.