For slippery stages: Put a little hairspray or violin rosin on the bottom of ghillies and hardshoes, but not so much that they're completely sticky.
Caitlin

My tips for breaking in gillies and hardshoes!
Hardshoes: First rub in a rich leather conditioner(not so much it make them slippery) then fold them in half(heel touching toe) and twist your elastics around them. Leave them like that for at least a week. Then, when ever you're not wearing them fold 'em in half!
Gillies: Just fold them in half(heel touching tip) and wrap their laces around them. Gillies are fairly easy to break in.
Courtney Maxwell

Here are a few tips:
1. To break in a pair of new flexi hard shoes, bend them in half so the toe is even with the heel. Then fasten them together that way using the buckle on the shoe. If you store them like that whenever they are in your bag, they will gain flexibility.
2. The night before a feis, sleep in pajamas that are buttoned!
3. If you don't have a place to practice in your house, buy a piece of plywood from the hardware store and you can do hardshoe on it.
4. Write down each step you learn in a notebook so you will always have it for reference.
-North Carolina