Michael Flatley

Michael Ryan Flatley (born July 16, 1958) is an American and Irish former Irish dance performer and choreographer. He is widely recognized for transforming traditional Irish dance by introducing new rhythms, syncopation, and upper body movements that had not been part of the form before. Flatley created and starred in the shows *Riverdance*, *Lord of the Dance*, *Feet of Flames*, *Celtic Tiger Live*, and *Michael Flatley's Christmas Dance Spectacular*. His productions have been seen by over 60 million people across 60 countries and have earned more than $1 billion. In addition to dance, he has worked as an actor, writer, director, producer, musician, and philanthropist. He once held the Guinness World Record for tap dancing 35 times per second, and his legs were reportedly insured for £25 million. Flatley stopped dancing in 2016 due to ongoing pain in his spine, knees, feet, and ribs. In January 2023, he was treated for an aggressive form of cancer, which is now in remission.

Flatley was born on July 16, 1958, the second of five children. His parents, Michael James Flatley and Elisabeth "Eilish" Flatley (née Ryan), were Irish immigrants who had moved to the United States in 1947. His father was a plumber from County Sligo; his mother, a gifted step dancer from County Carlow, was the daughter of champion dancer Hannah Ryan. They met at an Irish dance in Detroit and married there on August 25, 1956. The couple had five children: Anne-Marie, Michael, Eliza, Thomasina, and Patrick. When Michael was two months old, the family relocated from Detroit to Chicago's South Side.

Flatley began Irish dance lessons at age eleven with Dennis G. Dennehy at the Dennehy School of Irish Dance. He attended Brother Rice High School, an all-boys Catholic private school. At 17, in 1975, he became the first American to win a World Irish Dance title at Oireachtas Rince na Cruinne. He also won the All-Ireland Fleadh Cheoil concert flute competition in both 1975 and 1976. During the 1970s, he competed in the Chicago Golden Gloves amateur boxing tournament in the 126-pound novice division and won the middleweight division, recording five knockouts. He considered turning professional into the early 1980s but chose dance instead. Early in his career, *The Hollywood Reporter* called him "the white Michael Jackson," the *Los Angeles Herald-Examiner* dubbed him "the Rudolph Nureyev of Irish dance," and the *Washington Post* compared his feet to "the hands of Vladimir Horowitz in power and agility." He later became a philanthropic donor to the Golden Gloves organization, and in 2023 was named one of four Titans of Chicago Golden Gloves Boxing during its 100th anniversary.

After high school, Flatley worked as a stockbroker, blackjack gambler, and flautist. From 1978 to 1979, he toured with Green Fields of America. In the 1980s, he toured with The Chieftains, though his request to become a full-time member was denied. He was invited to help create an intermission show for the 1994 Eurovision Song Contest after catching the attention of Irish President Mary Robinson and dance-show producers. The seven-minute piece, titled "Riverdance," was performed as the interval act and received worldwide acclaim. Flatley pushed to expand it into a full-length production, which debuted in February 1995 at the Point Theatre in Dublin, produced by Moya Doherty, with principal choreography and lead performances by Flatley and Jean Butler. In September 1995, after the show sold out, Flatley left *Riverdance* to develop his own project, later *Lord of the Dance*. He had been in a dispute with producers over salary and royalties and was fired the night before the show's second London run; Colin Dunne replaced him. Flatley reportedly did not work well with Butler, but said of the split, "I just wanted control over the work that I had created myself. That's all. I don't think that that's too much to ask. I felt like I built it and they took it, and that's the end of it... and it hurt." He paid about £1 million to settle a wrongful termination lawsuit from his former manager, John Reid.

After leaving *Riverdance*, Flatley created *Lord of the Dance*, designed for arenas and stadiums as well as theaters. It premiered in June 1996 at the Point Theatre in Dublin, the same venue as *Riverdance*, and made its U.K. premiere at the London Coliseum. The music was composed by Ronan Hardiman. In 1997, Flatley earned £36 million, ranking him the 25th-highest-earning entertainer worldwide. In 1998, he created an expanded version called *Feet of Flames*, a one-off performance and his final appearance in *Lord of the Dance*. It was staged outdoors in Hyde Park, London, on a four-tier hydraulic stage with a live band and over 100 dancers. The show used Hardiman's original music plus new compositions and included six new numbers, one of which was Flatley's solo. Following the success of the Hyde Park show, Flatley produced another version of *Feet of Flames* in 1999, titled *Feet of Flames: The Victory World Tour*, which featured half original material and half new content, performed on a multi-level stage and toured Europe.