Julian Wild introduced the first Corr's Irish
Shoes samples in Spring 2001 to existing dancewear wholesale accounts in New
England. These accounts had requested that he develop a
range of handcrafted Irish shoes that would represent the next generation in
safety and comfort for the Irish dancer, that would be affordable, and that would be
well-received by teachers, dancers, and parents alike.
At the time, Julian was in the process of introducing a range of very
popular ballroom dance shoes to the U.S. market through his wholesale
company, U.S. Dance Supplies (these ballroom dance shoes were being received
with great enthusiasm, as they were of the highest quality soft leather and had attractive features
such as soft, padded insoles and heel guard protectors). The success of Julian's wholesale
company won him many loyal and appreciative customers,
which was helpful when introducing his very first prototype Irish dance
shoes, which he named Corr's after his mother's maiden name.
Julian had been (in his former
career) a very successful professional dancer for many years and knew
firsthand the rigors and physical stresses inherent in the demands of the
art of dance. This practical experience was coupled with a detailed
grounding in the basics of the business-end of dancewear retailing,
wholesaling, manufacturing, production and marketing - not only from his own
experience, but from his associations with both his father (a successful
dancewear manufacturer, retailer and wholesaler) and his 'Godfather' Rodney
Freed of Freed's Ballet Shoes.
After a careful study of the Irish dance shoe market, it
seemed to Julian at the time that there was room for some more
attention in the areas of safety and comfort, and so he set about to see
exactly how far he could go in addressing those needs. He also made a
detailed study of what was required by the Irish dancer from their shoes in
performance, always bearing in mind the amount of work done in the shoes - the long
hours spent in class, performance and rehearsal. He discovered that most Irish dancers were not dancing on sprung floors, and
that many were dancing on concrete or, in some cases, even stone flooring
and that he would need to address these matters as a priority.
Julian went through several sets of prototypes in both
hard and soft shoes before introducing his very first samples to store
owners in Spring 2001. Since then, the shoes have been well received by teachers,
dance professionals, champion and amateur dancers around the country
and around the world. Julian, with the help of the Irish dance
community and a team of talented designers and craftsmen, has addressed the
Irish dancer's
needs in the following areas: comfort, quality, safety, durability,
affordability ...
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About Corr's Hard Shoes |
 | All Corr's hard shoe uppers are constructed from one
of the softest, most supple, yet durable leathers available.
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| Corr's leather soles are made from
leather that is far more supple and flexible than standard 'benz'
leathers, and yet is incredibly durable. A Corr's innovation - leather soles
only 2 mm in thickness, rather than 3-4 mm - makes our leather soles
one of the most flexible and most easy to break-in full leather soles
currently available to the Irish dancer. All Corr's hard shoes
have soles that are both glued and stitched. |
| In each Corr's hard shoe, in addition to a 2-3 mm
leatherboard (the same material used in ballet pointe shoes) insole, you will find fully padded insocks for extra comfort and shock absorbency. Corr's insocks
are constructed from a PU based foam that is carbonized to help in the
prevention of athlete's foot fungi and odor. In addition, they
have a sweat-absorbent lining and are
made specially to fit to size. This insock helps to protect
against injury, offering impact resistance in both the heel and ball of
the foot areas. |
| Corr's hard shoes have breathable, Cambrelle® inside
linings (instead of leather or imitation leather linings, which can often lead
to hot feet, perspiration, and inevitably blisters). |
| A thin layer of latex foam padding is placed between the
breathable Cambrelle® inner lining and the outer leather of each hard shoes
upper. This provides added comfort, allows for air permeability and also helps to prevent the
outer leather from stretching. |
| All Corr's hard shoes have special heel guards (similar
to those used in ballroom dancing shoes). These heel guards are constructed
from special non-woven compressed fibers that aid in blister prevention
and help to maintain the heel's shape. Without this, the leather in
the heel may distort under heat and friction, leading to blisters.
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| Corr's have added extra padding to the tongue of the
shoe where a great deal of pressure is felt across the bridge of the foot
when on pointe in hard shoes. |
| Corr's introduced their adjustable strap and buckle,
instead of a strap that is fixed in place, because every dancer's bridge
of the foot is unique. |
| Most importantly, Corr's introduced their special
'Flexi-Shank'™ and 'Super-Shank'™ in an effort to address the
twin needs of arch support and flexibility of movement (a shank is a
device placed into shoes as an arch support). Julian held to the
belief that a dancer should be protected from arch support injuries
and decided that he would never bring a hard shoe to the market that
did not have sufficient arch support. The Corr's Flexi-Shank
and Super-Shank give protection and support to the dancer's arch and yet, as the
shanks are highly flexible, they don't impede in the performance and
execution of the demands required from the dance. The
Corr's Flexi-Shank and Super-Shank bend easily
in response to the demands placed on them while dancing and yet provide
ample support and shock absorption as they spring back to their original
position after flexing. The Flexi-Shank is used in the Corr's
Power-Flexi™, Super-Flexi™ and Pro Flexi™ hard shoes;
the Super-Shank is used in the one-of-a-kind Corr's Champion™
split-sole hard shoe. |
| Corr's toe and heel tips are made from resin compounds,
which are several times denser than fiberglass tips. It was discovered that
the density of the substance from which the tips are made, and not its
cubic volume, is what made for a much clearer, sharper and crisper
sound. As our tips are so much denser, they need not be as bulky
or cumbersome as some made of fiberglass. Add to this the dancer
can stand securely on the balls of their feet, as in all other forms of
dance. Corr's toe tips are also specially angled for safer and
easier toe stands and walks. |
| The shape of the Corr's hard shoe upper is taken from
that of a classic men's ballroom shoe. It is a standard oxford-type shoe
pattern and the higher bridge, or vamp, in the shoe lends for a greater
feeling of security, particularly when the dancer is on pointe.
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About Corr's Soft Shoes |
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| Corr's ghillies were designed all along to address
the familiar stresses associated with dancing on unsprung floors. This
includes particular attention focused on exactly the correct and
appropriate form of padding for use in an Irish ghillie. After several
trial versions, using different types of insocks, Julian happily settled on
what he felt was the ideal padded insock for the Performance, Pro-Excel and
Economy/Practice ghillies - one that was almost half
the thickness of the original type of latex insock that he had been
previously utilizing (this type being of a similar compression set /impact density to that used in the
Corr's hard shoes). After several trials
involving the cooperation of various Irish dancers it was determined that
the insock that was both the most impact resistant and the most comfortable in
performance was the present Corr's High-Density Low-Compression Set Grey
Insock.
Made from 2mm of condensed Neoprene rubber, it is extremely resilient
and has superior shock-absorbing properties.
This insock is half the thickness of its predecessor (making
for more room in the shoe) and performed much better in impact resistance
testing. In addition, there are extra foam latex pads fixed
underneath the ball of the foot area, which is where most impact is applied.
This double padding further aids the dancer when landing from jumps.
The
most outstanding feature of the Corr's ghillie is that the entire double
padded insock takes up a surprisingly small amount of room in the shoes and
yet perform their function most capably. This allows for an elegant
look and line and a more traditional shape for the Corr's ghillie. The
Corr's Champion split-sole ghillie's design required a different kind
of specialized padding, and so two separate custom-designed Poron®
pads are used to cushion both the metatarsal and heel areas - again,
with double padding in the ball of the foot area.
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Julian felt that all the comfort and safety features
included here in the Corr's range ought to come in a dance shoe "as standard," and that people should not be expected to pay extra for features
in dance shoes which ought to be there in the first place.
These various comfort and high-performance features are examples of the numerous principals that are applied to shoes across
the Corr's range of products available. We are thankful for all the input
from the many dancers who help in testing and trials and for all the advice
and assistance we receive from the professional craftsmen and
designers with whom we consult in conjunction with bringing this wonderful range
of handcrafted shoes to the Irish dancer.
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