Freezing An Irish Dance Leap
One of the moves in Irish dance that any dancer will do predominantly from beginner to championship is the Irish Leap. At the Shelley School we call it the Leap-23, referring to the 2 steps taken after the initial leaping motion.
The move is taught to beginner Irish dancers within the first 5 classes. It is one of the only moves I know that can within seconds make the level of any Irish dancer clear to an educated audience. I’ve helped teach basic level classes the past couple years and I always find myself excited to see the look on the dancers faces when they see a championship dancer demonstrate the same move they just learned.
Probably the number one question I hear from beginner and novice dancers is, “How do you get your leap to freeze like that?” I admit it’s something that takes years to really perfect, which is probably why we learn how to do a leap so early, but the best answer I can give to them is momentum. I make sure I have plenty of space in front of me and put all my strength into leading into the leap. Then, by the time I make the jump, I’m able to jump higher than I normally could and therefore have time to pause, or freeze in the air for a split second. When I don’t have enough momentum, my leaps are not as strong.
Having a graceful, strong, 90 degree angle leap can make any beginner dancer look like a champ. The steps are very basic, it’s all about what you put into it!
In this video, Elizabeth Claro gives a beautiful demonstration of freezing an Irish dance leap. Notice how she anticipates the leap, giving herself enough momentum beforehand.
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Wonderful! I have got to learn to hang those leaps!
so the trick is only in high jump? the higher ump the longer freez?
Well, in a sense, yes: if you jump higher, you have more time in the air to freeze it. The secret is to hold the pose even when you are coming down from the highest point of the jump, and then very fastly put your legs down. So to freeze your jump, you have to get to the pose very fastly, and hold it to the last possible moment, and then fastly put your legs down. You have to actually jump from your back leg and pull it up instead of just falling from one leg to the other… But the key is the suddenness of getting in and out of the pose
I hope this helps 
thanks. so, the second question, can anyone suggest how to improve the high of jump?
At the Shelley school we do lots of jumping exercises, but one of the most effective ones we do are kick-outs. They are very tiring, but after warming up with kick-outs my leaps always float a bit more. We start on one side of the studio and just repeat the leaping motion from right to left without any steps in between.
In 8 counts we do 8 leaps in place, then for the next 8 counts we do 8 leaps across the room. Then take a break and do the same thing again the other way. We usually do 4 sets of these. It's hard to describe without showing you, but just do the leap on the right, then on the left without the steps in between and u end up jumping continuously. It ends up being "jump, jump, jump, jump… or leap,leap,leap,leap…
Hope this makes sense. LOL
thanks! OMG, it's really hard and rises for me a new problem – poor stamina
)
haha, if stamina is a problem, u can try doing 6 sets, starting out low leaps, then medium leaps, then full leaps, then repeat. We do it that way in class sometimes. And yes, I agree its hard! hahaha
Surely there is more to it than this. I never learned this within the first four classes, but it must be to do with core strength too?
if u get some one to mark on a wall to see how high you get and try and and get higher every time it helps!!!but if u just spend 20 mins just tryIng to hold your leaps everyday there will prob b a big improvment by your next feis!!hope i helped…DONT FORGET TO STRETCH IT REALY HELPS BEFORE U DO THESE!!XoX
That's a way cool idea! I wanna try that. U could also do a mark on the floor to compare how far your leap travels. That'd be fun!
Great guys fantastic ideas thanks
x
How would you accurately put a mark on the wall while you were in the air?
Thanks for feedback,
Mackenzie
Haha, u'd probably have to have someone do it for u.
i hav been dancing for 7 years and still cant hold my leaps at all :/ also if anyone has any tips my heavys ar 2 big for me they are very comfy , i can dance realy well in them but i cant do toe stands or dance higher on my toes because it feels like my big toe is gonna brake!! lol also if anyone has any excercises to dance higher on your toes in pomps would be very gr8ful tnx xx!!
My teacher says the best way to hold leaps is to get a strong stomach because you can hold yourself in the air for longer — so try exercises like planks, sit ups, that kind of thing. I have no advice for the others though!
Thanks it works ssssooo WELL!!!!! I cant wait to go back to class and show every one that i can hold my leaps now!!!!
I really needed to learn how to do them because i just got my solo dress and ive been dancing for 4 years!! lol!! 
but i couldve gotten a solo dress a long time ago but i have 2 other sisters that dance with me so it was too much money but they finally gave in wen we found one for 500 that was beatiful!!! thnx again!!!! 
hey does any one have any advice on butterflies i sorta now how to do them but my friend is telling me im doing them wrong but my other more advenced friend says im doing them right!!!
i dont know who to believe and my teacher always laughs at me wen i ask her!!!!!! can someone PLEASE explain it to me!!!!! thnx!!!! 
Its possible you may have a broken bone in your foot or something if you've never been able to do toe walking after 7 years. I've heard some breaks in the toes dont heal on their own. There should be no pain since hard shoes are designed to make toe walking possible.
Also if you buy rutherford super-flexi shoes they allow you to get on your toes right away without even braking them it. If you have hard shoes with the with hard light brown bottoms then they take a lot of time to break in before toe walking. I dont have patience for them, but a lot of dancers I know will bend them in half and use something heavy to hold them that way for a few days to get them to be more flexible.
And w/ the leaps its a lot about timing if your looking for a freeze. Your only in the air for a moment, so having your leg at a 90 degree angle at the exact same time your other leg kicks your butt, insures your leap hangs more. If they hit at different times, your hang will be a lot less noticable.
To do a butterfly, u jump ( as high as possible) off both feet. Then you turn your feet inward with toes touching or even overlapping, then while still in the air, turn your feet outward with heels touching. Then land with the opposite foot in front.
My TCRG always tells us that u want to emphasize the feet turned outward longer than the feet turned inward.
Hope this helps!!
So glad this article & comments attached to it helped you!!!
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