MICHAEL FLATLEY
The spark ignited in Michael Flatley at his birth, has developed into a powerful fire with numerous flames. As a concert flautist and dancer, his grace and his athletic physique gained him numerous world championships and an entry in the Guinness book of records for his speed of tapping.All this as an expression of a special talent, that would unfold for the first time at Eurovision but that alone is not enough to explain the phenomenonal Michael Flatley.
The young dancer from Chicago was the first American to win the All World Championships in Irish dancing and who was granted more and more new honors afterwards. He was the youngest recipient of the "National Heritage Fellowship" founded by Ronald Reagan, awarded by the "American National Endowment of Arts" as one of the greatest artists of the country, achieving a Master of Dance award for his contribution to advance the art of Dance, and in 1991 the National Geographic Society declared Michael Flatley a living cultural treasure.
Since the first performance at The Point in Dublin on June 2nd in 1996, Lord of the Dance has received lots of awards. In Great Britain Lord of the Dance was sold out 4 weeks in a row at the Coliseum and performed afterwards 12 times at the legendary Wembley Arena, once again to a sold-out audience. In Australia the 8 week tour saw the largest ticket sales of all shows in the country.
In the United States the show was sold out for two weeks in the Radio City Music Hall in New York. Besides that Michael Flatley and the Lord of the Dance ensemble performed at the Academy Awards in Los Angeles before closing the USA part of their tour.
The Lord of the Dance video was the item with the largest sales before Christmas and meanwhile achieved 12 platinum awards. The soundtrack of Lord of the Dance has already sold more than a million copies worldwide, with its total receipts reaching 150 million pounds. Michael and his dance ensemble performed their 300th show on January 21st 1998 at Wembley Arena in London, only a few weeks before they broke the record for the highest number shows in a row with 21 sold-out performances.
Afterwards, Michael was able to win back the title as the Fastest Dancer in the World, tapping 35 taps a second. In July 1998 Michael put on stage the incredible Feet of Flames performance with 25,000 absolutely delighted fans at the Route of the Kings in London's Hyde Park.
In 1999 Lord of the Dance was performed in Spain, Italy, France, Switzerland and Israel and out of one ensemble it became four: One ensemble is on constant tour in Great Britain; another ensemble is touring the United States; a third ensemble performs constantly in Las Vegas and a fourth in Disney World in Florida.
With more than 2,500 performances in every major city in the world, the show has been seen by more than five million visitors. This remarkable result, as well as the success of the videos Lord of the Dance and The Hyde Park Feet of Flames, which have been sold more than 4.5 million times over the world, has turned Lord of the Dance into the most successful touring dance production of the World.
After he prepared his first feature film during the last year and worked on two books, which will be published by the end of this year, Michael is accepting the challenge of his upcoming greatest and most ambitious dance project, the Feet of Flames 2000 World Tour, with his usual, inimitable charisma and his unique determination.
With one of the most successful and most fascinating developments in the history of Dance a new chapter will be written and Michael Flatley can continue reaching great heights undisturbed.
September 1999
-The End-
The Celtic Cafe
wishes to thank Kerstin Kuhne, Andreas, Alex, Marcel and Bernadette.
