Michael Flatley

Michael Flatley
Born	(1958-07-16) 16 July 1958 Chicago, Illinois
Occupation	Step dancer

Michael Ryan Flatley (born July 16, 1958 in Chicago, Illinois) is an Irish step dancer from the south side of the country. His parents were from County Sligo 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 resident to win the All-Ireland World Championship for Irish dance. As a trained boxer he won the Chicago Golden Gloves Championship in 1975. Flatley is also known as being a proficient flautist, having twice won the All-Ireland Competition. His first dance teachers were his mother and his grandmother Hannah Ryan, an Irish horse dancing champion. After graduating from Brother Rice High School, on Chicago's South Side, he opened a dance school.

Career

His first professional break came when he joined The Chieftains for tours in the 1980s. He co-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 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."

Awards and recognition

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 Michael Donnellan, at 40 taps per second.

The dancer also received Guinness Book recognition in both 1999 and 2000 for being the highest paid dancer, earning $1,600,000 per week and for having the highest insurance premium placed on a dancer's legs at $40,000,000.

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. In 2008, he was conferred with the freedom of the borough of Sligo at a ceremony in Sligo City Hall

Personal life

In 1986 Flatley wed Polish make-up artist Beata Dziaba, but was divorced 11 years later. He battled bouts of depression and drinking after the break-up, and admitted, "When I wasn’t involved in a show I would sometimes be drunk for two weeks at a time." He then had a series of relationships and in 2002 became engaged to his long-term girlfriend Lisa Murphy but they eventually broke up.

In April 2006, Flatley spoke about his recent discovery of a facial skin cancer. He kept the cancer scare a closely-guarded secret, but said, "I'm completely fine now, thank God."

At the 10^th Anniversary of Lord of the Dance in June of 2006, Michael Flatley was accompanied by dancer Niamh O’Brien who dances with Flatley in Celtic Tiger. O'Brien, who is in her 30s, 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, and married in "a low-key Catholic ceremony " in Fermoy Co. Cork on Saturday October 14th 2006.

On November 15, 2006, Flatley's website reported that he had been admitted to hospital. According to media reports, he was suffering from a serious viral infection. All his up-and-coming shows for Celtic Tiger were cancelled. He left hospital three days later.

Michael and Niamh became parents to their first child, a son, Michael St. James Flatley, on Thursday 26th April 2007.

Flatley, who is worth £350 million, has homes in Barbados, Chicago, France, Ireland and London.

In the fall of 2007, Flatley and a troupe of male dancers performed on Dancing with the Stars in the USA.

Flatley is expected to be opening a multi-million dollar Las Vegas hotel and casino in the coming years.

Attempted extortion against Flatley

In 2006, a woman named Tyna Marie Robertson, a real estate agent, with whom Flatley had had a short relationship in 2002, claimed Flatley had raped her. After Flatley denied the allegations and refused to pay a settlement ranging in the millions, she brought a $33m claim against him. However, the civil action was dismissed, and Flatley then filed a counter-suit against Robertson and her lawyer D. Dean Mauro, for extortion, intentional infliction of emotional distress and defamation.

In July 2006 The California Supreme Court held that Mauro had committed extortion, and the lawyer settled by making "a substantial payment." In December 2007 Flatley accepted a settlement of $11m from Robertson after convincing the California Supreme Court the accusations brought against him were false and part of a million-dollar extortion scheme. On the successful outcome of his counter-suit, Flatley commented: "Ms Robertson tried to extort money from me by spreading these lies and the court sent a message that it will not tolerate these types of schemes."

References in popular culture

A line from the Irish Eurovision song 2008 by Dustin the Turkey refers to Flatley: "Give us another chance, we're sorry for riverdance, sure Flately he's a yank"

The popular American sitcom Friends also mentions Flatley in a scene where it is revealed that he is a phenomenon that scares the beejeezus out of Chandler. "His legs flail about as if independent from his body!"

External links

• 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"
• Michael Flatley at IMDb