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Michael
Flatley's Support of the Nelson Mandela Children's Fund Although
Michael Flatley has retired from dancing on tour with his shows since July
of 2001, he has twice returned to the stage in spectacular "one-off"
performances, the first on May 31, 2003 in St. Peterburg, Russia at the invitation
of President Vladimir Putin. There he performed before over 40 heads of
state gathered for the 300th anniversary of the founding of St. Petersburg, a
most auspicious occasion. A few weeks ago, on August 8, he delighted the glittering
audience at the Red Cross Charity Gala in Monaco, where he and his troupe
performed at the invitation of Prince Albert. Click
here for our Celtic Cafe feature and fantastic photos of that amazing
night in Monte Carlo with the Grimaldi Royal Family. On Wednesday, September
10, Michael and his lovely fianceé Lisa Murphy met with the Honourable
Nelson Mandela, and he pledged to perform for yet another most worthy cause,
the Nelson Mandela Children's Fund,
on March 15, 2004, in Johannesburg, South Africa. The former South African president
and Nobel Laureate has agreed to attend the party of the decade, the official
re-opening celebrations of Michael's historic Castlehyde House in North
Cork, Ireland, after renovations are completed this autumn. According to the Evening
Herald, Michael said "Nelson Mandela has been a hero of mine all my life
and it was the least I could do to donate our opening night's proceeds to his
Foundation to support its work with underpriviliged children. But the Lord
of the Dance was left speechless when the former South African leader demanded
that he personally dance in the opening night show on March 15 next in the Nelson
Mandela Theatre. "I tried to explain to Mr. Mandela that I don't really dance
in the shows anymore but he stunned me when he said that if I dance for him in
Johannesburg, he will come to the grand opening of Castlehyde later this year,"
Michael explained. "How could I refuse an offer like that? It's one
of the greatest honours I've ever received. So I agreed to perform in one of the
opening numbers next March, all going well. But I don't think I'll dance the entire
show." His newly-formed Troupe 4 has dates scheduled from March
16 through May 9, starting in Johannesburg and continuing on to Capetown, Port
Elizabeth and Durban. Click
here for the Celtic Cafe tourdates. Castlehyde was owned by the
first president of Ireland, Douglas Hyde, who as the founder in 1893, and
first president of the Gaelic League, helped to revive not only the Irish
language, but also encouraged a rebirth of Irish dance and other aspects of Irish
culture. Douglas Hyde was also an adjudicator for Irish dance competitions, so
it seems rather serendipitous that Castlehyde is now in the hands of the world's
most famous Irish dancer. Built in 1760, the house will be Michael's "dream
home," and one of Europe's greatest period homes. Michael purchased Castlehyde
for a reported 3 million pounds, and the extensive renovations, furnishings, acquisitions
of art treasures and the like are said to total about 50 million Euros. That
lifestyle, earned through his talent, genius, hard work and show business "savvy,"
is a far cry from the scenes of poverty Michael witnessed in Tanzania where he
spent several weeks, and that of the Children's Fund and World Vision Aid projects
he visited this weekend -- which included meeting children living with AIDS. Michael
was profoundly moved, and pledged to help support the work of those organizations.
That support, beyond the financial aspect, will do much to help gain further awareness
of the work being done, and will no doubt help draw in even more supporters as
they learn about the critical needs of those children and youth in Africa, and
pledge to do their share. Michael's public support will cause many eyes
and hearts to be opened on behalf of the children. THE BIRTH OF
THE MANDELA CHILDREN'S FUND The organization's Web presence can be found
at NelsonMandelaChildrensFund.com,
where one can learn about their goal of "Changing the way that society treats
its children." The following is excerpted from their site: "One
night, just before the country's first democratic elections, I was leaving an
exclusive Cape Town hotel where I had attended a meeting, when a group of children
ran up to my car. It was freezing, and yet they were scantily dressed.
These children were part of that phenomenon we call "street kids". Labelling
them like this makes them seem like just another element of a wider problem that
we don't have to think about specifically. That night I could have given them
some money and, with my conscience eased, gone home to a good night's rest. I
talked to them for a while trying to find out where they came from and where their
parents were. I had a sleepless night, tossing and turning. I kept on seeing
their faces, so young and yet already so old because of life on the streets. I
knew that it was not good enough to say that their problems would be solved along
with the problems of the entire country. They were innocent of our history, why
did they have to bear its burden in equal measure with the adults? That
is when I conceived the idea of the Nelson Mandela Children's Fund, dedicated
to the needs and aspirations of our youth."
Mr. Nelson Mandela
Founder
and Chairperson
Nelson Mandela Children's Fund On 16th June 1994,
the South African Youth Day, the then President Mandela pledged one third of his
salary for the improvement of the quality of life of South Africa's deprived children. This
R150 000 annual pledge was the impetus for the establishment of the Nelson Mandela
Children's Fund." Feature: Bernadette
Price
Original Web Design: Alexander
Servas
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