Michael Flatley
Michael Ryan Flatley (born
July 16,
1958 in
Detroit, Michigan) is an
Irish-American step dancer from the
south side of
Chicago whose parents were from
County Mayo and
County Carlow. As a very young child, he moved to
Chicago, the city he considers his hometown. He began
dancing lessons at 11. He became the first non-European to win the All-Ireland World Championship for Irish dance in 1975. He is also trained as a
boxer and won the
Golden Gloves Championship in 1975, as well as being a proficient
flautist. His first teachers were his mother and his grandmother Hannah Ryan, an Irish dancing champion. After high school graduation, he opened a dance school.
His first professional break came when he joined
The Chieftains for tours in the
1980s. He created the initial choreography for
Riverdance and, with fellow lead dancer
Jean Butler, led the show to great success as the intermission act in the
Eurovision Song Contest on
April 30,
1994. Flatley and Butler then starred in the full-length show that was developed from the original seven-minute act. After leaving the show due to creative disagreements [
1], Flatley began his own show,
Lord of the Dance. In 1998, Flatley put together a dance production called
Feet of Flames, a version of which toured Europe and the US in
2000 and
2001.
Flatley's newest Irish dance show is
Celtic Tiger, which opened in July
2005. The show explores the history of the Irish people and Irish immigration to the US and fuses ballet, jazz, and cheerleading styles. In addition, some traditional elements are conserved , such as Michael's flute performance and the finale of line of dancers. Currently Flatley is still touring with Celtic Tiger. He released his own autobigoraphical book titled
"Lord of the Dance: My Story" this year. As for the future, well as it was put on the Celtic Tiger program "I will be a dancer until the day I die".
Flatley received the
National Endowment for the Arts'
National Heritage Fellowship in
1988 and was named one of
National Geographic Society's Living Treasures in 1991 for mastery of a traditional art form, the youngest person at that time ever to receive this accolade. In May of
1989, Flatley set a
Guinness Book world record for tapping speed at 28 taps per second; when this record was broken, he set another record in February of
1998, by achieving 35 foot taps per second[
2]. The current record holder is
James Devine, at 38 taps per second [
3]. In December 2001, Flatley became the first recipient of the Irish Dancing Commission Fellowship award, an honorary degree in Irish dance, and was simultaneously made a Fellow of the American Irish Dance Teachers' Association. Irish America Magazine named Flatley Irish American of the Year in March 2003 [
4].
Flatley was engaged in 2002 to Lisa Murphy, but the relationship ended in April 2006 [
5].
In
April 2006, Flatley spoke about his recent discovery of a facial skin cancer.[
6]. He kept the cancer scare a closely-guarded secret, but said, "I'm completely fine now, thank God."
At the 10th Anniversary of Lord of the Dance in June of 2006, Michael Flatley was accompained by dancer Niamh O'Brien who dances with Flatley in Celtic Tiger. O'Brien, who is in her 30's, has danced with Flatley in
Riverdance,
Lord of the Dance,
Feet of Flames, and now
Celtic Tiger. The two shortly thereafter announced that they were dating.
*
Official website*
Riverdance website*
Lord of the Dance website*
Celtic Tiger website*
In-depth information on Flatley and his shows*
Transcript of Flatley's interview on the BBC show "Parkinson"
