Ballet for Irish Dancers: What It Does for Your Technique

Irish dancing asks a lot of a body: trebles in hard shoe, leaps in light shoe, and hours of practice before every feis. Most of that load lands on the feet and ankles, and it shows. In studies of competitive and professional Irish dancers, 72% to 93% have had an injury, usually in the foot or ankle (systematic review, 2023).

That's one reason so many Irish dancers add a ballet class to their week. The other is technique. Ballet drills what Irish dance judges look for: a pointed foot, a still upper body and turnout that starts at the hip.

Here's what a weekly ballet class trains, and what the research says about injuries.

A sharper point

A clean, arched point earns marks in soft shoe. Ballet trains it at the barre. Tendus and dégagés work the foot through every stage of the point, from heel to toe, again and again. That repetition strengthens the small muscles inside the foot, the ones that hold a point steady.

A still upper body

The arms stay by the sides and the shoulders don't move, while the legs do trebles at speed. Holding the top half still takes a strong core. Ballet class works on that same control: posture, alignment and lifting up through the spine.

Irish dance turnout starts at the hip

Irish dance keeps the legs turned out, even on landing. Good turnout comes from rotating at the hip. When a dancer can't get enough rotation there, they often twist at the knee or ankle to get their feet further round, which puts strain on those joints.

Researchers who filmed Irish dancers landing a fly found that twisting below the hip put more rotational load on the ankle (Wallace et al. 2024). In ballet dancers, the same habit has been linked to more lower-leg injuries, though those studies are small (systematic review, 2026).

Turnout from the hip is one of the first things a ballet class teaches, starting with the five ballet positions. It's the habit Irish dance teachers want too.

Softer landings

Irish dancers usually land on the ball of the foot with a straight knee. It looks sharp, and it puts a lot of force through the body. Studies have measured 4.5 to 6 times body weight on landing.

Ballet lands differently, rolling down through the foot into a bent knee (a plié). Ballet-trained girls land with more knee bend and less strain on the knee than girls who don't dance (Harwood et al. 2018). One study found the extra bend didn't reduce the impact itself (Hendry et al. 2019). No one has yet tested whether it helps Irish dancers.

Will ballet prevent injuries?

No study has tested ballet as injury prevention for Irish dancers, and studies of cross-training in general haven't found a clear link (Eustergerling and Emery 2015).

The evidence is stronger for strength and conditioning. In one trial, professional ballet dancers on a conditioning programme had an injury rate 82% lower than dancers who weren't on it (randomised trial, 2020). If injuries are the worry, start with a conditioning class or a dance physiotherapist, and add ballet for technique.

Finding a class

Ballet fits alongside Irish dance classes, and one class a week is a common place to start. Look for:

• Graded ballet (RAD or ISTD) for foundation technique. Our exam boards guide explains the grades.

• Progressing Ballet Technique (PBT), a conditioning class with exercise balls that builds strength and control.

• Acro for flexibility and strength, with a teacher trained in an acro syllabus. See acro vs gymnastics.

Find ballet classes near you