Krypto-Celtic Michael Flatley

powergen.jpg (17650 bytes) Weekend Edition with Stone Philips, July 12, 1998

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Stone Philips: Michael Flatley, the self-proclaimed lord of the dance has danced and strutted to fame and fortune. You've got to be fast on your feet to keep up with Flatley... sounds like a job for John Markowitz.

John Markowitz: Welcome to Planet Ireland where good battles evil nightly for your entertainment. It's the krypto-celtic creation of this man, lead dancer, choreographer and official center of attention, Michael Flatley.

This lord-a-leaping can tap the night away on stages around the globe but he can't dance at a wedding. He can't dance on a date. And he sure can't dance for Dateline.

JM: You can't dance anywhere except a stage?
MF: That's right, yeah
JM: So you can't dance right here?
MF: Are you asking me to dance again? Didn't we go through this already? We just had that interview, didn't we?
Voice over: He's simply not allowed to. Because if Flatley trips, a lot of people fall flat. You see, these size 8's are insured for 25 million British pounds sterling. That's about 40 million dollars.
(Clip of Las Vegas at MGM Grand hotel 1997)
A small price for a man who's taken the Irish jig from parish halls where dutiful daughters high-kicked through Saint Patrick Day celebrations to the same Las Vegas arena where Mike Tyson nibbled his way to the weight watchers hall of fame.
It's a world of Flatley's own making, conjured up after he was dumped from Riverdance, the original Irish dance sensation that made him famous. The issue then? Creative control...something Flatley made sure he had plenty of the second time around.
jm: You picked the dancers?
MF: Yes.
JM: You picked their costumes?
MF: Yes.
JM: Their hairstyles?
MF: Uh-huh.
JM: What dance they're gonna do what particular time?
MF: What tights they wear and what angle the lights are at.
JM: Are you a control freak?
MF: Maybe in some ways.
Voice-over: Well, maybe just a little...
MF: (pointing to the stage and arena hall of New York New York hotel's concert venue) All those speakers, all those wires are mine...these bars are mine...that's all mine...I don't even know what's mine. That's exciting to me, you know...it all came out of my head.
Voice-Over: What came out of his head is bringing him both fame and fortune. Lord of the Dance performances and videos are raking in a quarter of a million dollars a week. The Michael Flatley legend is being revised nightly. He's notorious for telling colleagues and reporters wildly conflicting tales about his past.
JM: Were you ever a blackjack dealer in las vegas?
MF: Nope, certainly not. Next.
JM: But you were, and still are, a flautist?
MF: Yes.
JM: Construction worker?
MF: Yeah, sure.
JM: Golden Gloves boxer?
MF: Yes.
JM: Stockbroker in Beverly Hills?
MF: I worked a little while there, yeah...
JM: Dancing since age 11 when your parents dragged you to dance class?
MF: By the ears, yeah
Voice-Over: Even though 11 is considered old for a beginner, Flatley was a natural. Six years later he became the first American to win the All World Irish Dancing Championship. That's right! The Irish dancer with the Irish brogue is really an American, born and raised in Chicago. He toured with the Irish band The Chieftains and won a spot in the Guinness Book of World Records for stomping out an incredible 28 taps per second.
MF: And then I retired from competition.
JM: At 17?
MF: Uh-huh...and I really wanted to try new things. Now in competition, I wasn't allowed to do that. I wasn't allowed to change things or use my body or my arms. I wasn't allowed to break the rules.
JM: You couldn't wait to break the rules.
MF: (laughs) Yeah...that's exactly right though
Voice-Over: In Lord of the Dance, Flatley breaks most of the rules of traditional Irish dancing. He moves his arms, his legs and everything in between. That has irritated purists but paved the way for his vision of a future as green as the emerald isle.
JM: Could you one day foresee a Planet Ireland chain like Planet Hollywood?
MF: Yeah, no question.
Voice-Over: Flatley's found his pot of gold at the end of the promotional rainbow. He's everywhere...on Leno, on Rosie, on the Oscars. And you know you've arrived when they make fun of you on the mtv awards.
(clip of mtv awards, with Mike Myers immitating LOTD)
Flatley claims not to mind that the British tabloids call him arrogant and supremely egotistical. On this side of the pond, the proof's at the box office and Americans love him.
(Clip of Lucky Charms cereal commercial) Before Flatley came along, this elfin hoofer was most people's idea of an adorable Irish dancer. Now with all of his charms, Flatley often gets...lucky
That's why this Lord of the Dance is also known as the lord of the dalliance.
MF:: I've said that girls better look out tonight, that's for sure.
JM: What night do the girls not have to look out?
MF: (laughing) You'll be following me for a long time before you see that.
(Clip of jean butler)
Jean Butler: I think Micheal likes his women and I wouldn't be the first to say it. He says it in every interview he gives.
Voice-over: Jean Butler was Flatley's costar in Riverdance.
JB: Every body else wanted Micheal. There was thousands of much younger girls than I was saying "Oh God, isn't he gorgeous?"
Voice-Over: But, she says, their relationship was just about dancing
JB: So, that actually offstaged tension, which would be sexual tension, was transmitted onto the stage.
(clip of Riverdance)
I think the main thing that caused our partnership to be so successful was the fact that we both tried to top each other all the time.
Voice-over: Divorced now from his wife of 10 years, Flatley seems to be always on the lookout fo the next love his life. This during a satellite interview with New Zealand TV.(clip of Michael Flatley accepting calls on tv)
Caller: I imagine you have relatively few girlfriends.
MF: Um...right now I don't have a girlfrind at all but I'm coming down to New Zealand to see if I can find one.
Voice-over: But the stage is where his real passion plays out.
JM: "Dancing is better than sex"...Did you say that?
MF: I'd say, at times...it can be equally as satisfying. Sometimes it looks to me like eveything is in slow motion for those few seconds when you're flying and you can actually hear your heart beating. You can actually feel the heat of the lights. You can actually feel your ears pounding with the music. And I don't think it gets much better than that.
Voice-over: It's a thrill of a different kind to know you've changed the world of dance and maybe in the process created a legacy. (clip of lotd finale)
Stone Philips: What's next for Michael Flatley? Well, later this month he plans an open air spectacular in London's Hyde Park. He says it maybe his last live performance, leaving him time to pursue a film career. There's even talk he might step back into a boxing ring.

End of Segment
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