Profile Michael Flatley - The creator of 'Celtic Tiger' (the show) denies the death of Celtic Tiger (the boom):He's a dancer, a choreographer, a collector of rare books and a champion of Old Ireland, but as he risks becoming Lord of the Rants, does he hope to high-kick his way into the White House, asks Róisín Ingle.
Reading between the lines of Michael Flatley's latest headline-grabbing performance, a speech to the first US Ireland Forum in New York, you couldn't help wondering whether the perma-tanned Irish dancer might be limbering up for a change of career. Senator Flatley, perhaps? Governor Flatley has a nice ring to it. Although, if he really is thinking of hanging up his dance shoes for politics, his personal philosophy, "nothing is impossible", indicates he wouldn't be happy with anything other than the top job.
In a passionate 10-minute address to a room full of wealthy Irish-American business people, Flatley bemoaned the new multicultural Ireland while condemning the naysayers who have been busily predicting the demise of the Celtic Tiger. He may have had a teeny bit of an ulterior motive here: the man is at the helm of a global dance show franchise called Celtic Tiger, so the death of that tiger would be bad for business.
"Just recently I was on Grafton Street in Dublin," he said, conjuring images of him popping into M & S for a ready meal. "You don't hear too many Irish voices there any more. I was in a café having coffee one afternoon and there were two black fellas, African lads, next to me at the table talking and they were pointing at a newspaper saying "Celtic Tiger is dead, we'd better find somewhere else."
In a style reminiscent of the late John F Kennedy channelling Tinkerbell, he set out his stall. "I say no. I say this Celtic Tiger is not dead. This is not the end. This is only the beginning. It's only dead if we believe it's dead. It's only dead if our press keep writing that it's dead over and over."
As Tinkerbell might say, clap your hands to save the Celtic Tiger. You just have to believe.
"We have the brains now," he said. "For the first time in history, we're in the lead. It's our responsibility to carry the torch now, to pass it on to our children and to give them options moving forward. It's time for us now to reach for the stars, step on the gas and to try and do something new and to dream big. Now is the opportunity to make it count." If this speech was performed during one of his shows, at this point comely maidens wearing mini skirts and bra tops, their bleached blonde heads topped off with mortar boards, would shimmy across the stage.
There was more. According to Flatley, most of us have forgotten how the country came to this fruitful point in history and are no longer mindful of the role of 1916 heroes such as Pearse, Connolly, Ceannt, Clarke and MacDonagh. "Hell, we even tore down the iconic Ballymun towers that bore the names of these guys, it's a crying shame," he said. Okay, he didn't actually say that bit, but it's kind of where he was going.
Taking the national pulse and bemoaning the lack of Irishness to be found in Ireland, he posed questions such as: "When's the last time you walked by a pub in Dublin and heard Irish music?" To which one might answer, every time we amble down Temple Bar of an evening. Or every time we walk along the north quays past that bar where Riverdance-style music blares out morning, noon and night.
"When's the last time you ordered a coffee and heard an Irish person taking the order from you?" he lamented, sounding like a certain breed of taxi driver. "We are in close danger of losing the very thing we stand for and the very thing we came here to celebrate today - Irishness."
On that note, let us consider our national identity as spied through the baby blues of Michael Flatley. He has described his show, Celtic Tiger, as a piece of "non-fiction, with great messages" whereas his other worldwide hit, Lord of the Dance, was, according to Flatley, more of a fairytale jaunt through ancient Ireland. The "non-fiction" Celtic Tigerglobal franchise includes one scene - check it out on YouTube if you are not among the millions who have bought his DVDs - where a demure-looking Irish air hostess is ogled by a group of handsome dancers dressed as pilots. Then, overcome with lust for Capt Flatley, the demure air hostess performs a lengthy striptease right down to her skimpy stars and stripes bikini.
Stripping. It's part of who we are.
BORN TO IRISHimmigrants in one of the most run-down parts of Chicago, Flatley took his first dance lessons at the age of 11 and taught himself to play the flute by ear. His father wanted him to be a boxer, but his heart was in dance and he first went global while touring with the Chieftains in the 1980s. Riverdancemade him a star but ended acrimoniously when he was fired just a year after that show-stopping Eurovision interval performance.
Distraught for a while, he soon set about building his own Riverdanceand, with the tenacity of a prize fighter, turned it all around creating Lord of the Danceand Celtic Tiger, both worldwide hits.
A self-confessed ladies' man - there was a couch set aside in Dublin club Lillie's Bordello for him and his female fans - Flatley's romantic entanglements have been as much documented as his dance moves. He once flew friends and journalists to the south of France to witness his engagement to Dubliner Lisa Murphy, but broke off the engagement a few days later. She is quoted liberally in his autobiography, Lord of The Dance, describing his prowess as a lover and saying, "he's so loyal and generous. In the past year he's given away seven cars that I know about. And there's all the charity work he does and no one hears about." Unless they read his autobiography, of course.
Last year he married one of his star dancers, Niamh O'Brien, after a brief romance and the couple have a son, Michael, born last April. In his book there is a picture of Flatley with a beautiful female fiddler with the caption "sex on legs". Underneath this shot there is a picture of him and his wife - "the perfect bride", according to the caption - on their wedding day.
ASKED RECENTLY BYan eastern European reporter how he juggles the roles of creator, choreographer, producer and dancer, he was philosophical. "Why cannot somebody be all of those things? Maybe there's a new title for somebody who does all of that. I'm sure that Rembrandt didn't just say 'I am just going to paint the head part, now you paint the hands and you paint the toes, you paint the legs,' I am sure they didn't do this."
Britain might have David Brent, but we've got Michael Flatley and we didn't even have to make him up. It's this ability to speak of himself, without irony, in the same breath as a renowned 17th-century artist which has got Flatley where he is today.That and the single-minded drive for success handed down by the parents, about whom he spoke lovingly during his speech.
"My parents came here in 1947 from Ireland with nothing, like most Irish people. We worked seven days a week, including holidays, we didn't go on unemployment benefit but we made it . . . We didn't bitch about the guy next door who was richer because he sold his house for more money and we didn't bitch about the guy down the street who might be poorer. That is the sign of the Irish spirit," he added. He clearly hasn't been to a certain type of dinner party in Ireland where all they do is bitch about the guy down the street who is richer because he sold his house for more money.
Flatley is the living embodiment of the Celtic Tiger, so it's no wonder he doesn't want to see the cat's claws clipped. His "traditional" Irish wedding last year cost €1 million and he's been known to urge visitors to sniff the pages of the first-edition copy of Ulyssesin his split-level library. Being in a position to dispense invitations to sniff rare books is the stuff of every self-respecting Celtic Tiger's dreams.
Watch this space, though, because, at nearly 50, having recovered well from a mystery virus that led to him cancelling some shows, Flatley may be looking for another way to fuel those dreams. As he reminded the US Ireland Forum, there are 54 million people in the world who class themselves as Irish Americans. "If we could harness the power of 54 million people, it wouldn't be long until we have one of our own back in the White House," he said.
Wait a minute. Sure isn't Flatley one of our own? The campaign starts here.
The Flatley File
Who is he?Super-hoofer Michael Flatley
Why is he in the news?During a keynote address to the US Ireland Forum in New York recently, he declared that the death of the Celtic Tiger has been greatly exaggerated.
Self-confessed strengths: Producing, directing, choreographing, dancing, flute playing, boxing - look, we'll be here all day. Let's leave it at that.
Self-confessed weakness: The laydeez
Most likely to say: Begorrah. Sure the oul' sod tisn't as good as it used to be, godammit.
Least likely to say: "Has anyone got a spare ticket for The Last Days of the Celtic Tiger?"