Michael Flatley

Michael Ryan Flatley (born July 16, 1958 in Detroit, Michigan) is an Irish-American step dancer from the south side of Chicago. His parents were from County Mayo and County Carlow. As a child, he moved to Chicago - the city which he considers his home town. He began dancing lessons at 11 and, in 1975, became the first non-European to win the All-Ireland World Championship for Irish dance. As a trained boxer he won the Golden Gloves Championship in 1975. Flatley is also known as being a proficient flautist. His first dance 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, Flatley produced, directed, and choreographed 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 current 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 a wide range of dance styles, including jazz. The show also includes popular elements from his previous shows, such as Flatley's flute solos and the line of dancers in the finale. Flatley released his own autobiographical book titled Lord of the Dance: My Story in March 2006. Regarding his future plans, Flatley was quoted in the Celtic Tiger program book as saying, "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. The current record holder is James Devine, at 38 taps per second. In September 2000, Flatley was awarded the prestigious 'Coq Flambee' by the Sorbonne, Paris, for his commitment to the furtherance of Franco-Irish 'relations'. 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. On the 3rd June 2007 The Freedom of the City of Cork was conferred on the entertainer at a ceremony in Cork's City Hall.