site.btaDancer-Choreographer Michael Flatley: "My Dance Is Aggressive, Powerful, Masculine, Full of Passion"

It wouldn't matter for Michael Flatley, the celebrated dancer-choreographer, if he was a dancer, musician, rock star or racing car driver: he will still have the same passion and the same aggressive style. "I will still do the dance from my heart, different than anybody else, because that's me," he said in a BTA interview. He describes his dance as "aggressive, powerful, masculine, and full of passion", and says maybe that came "a little bit from my fighting skills".

"When I first saw Irish dance I believe that it was the greatest dance in the world, because of the rhythm patterns, because of the percussive element of tapping. Even as a young man, I had seen the great Rudolf Nureyev, and of course films of Fred Astaire and Jimmy Cagney, and I loved all of it, but I believed that if I could make some changes, if I could adapt Irish dance, if I could bring it into the future, that it was the greatest dance in the world, and it would give me complete freedom," he said. 

He said that Irish dance teaches a discipline to do something with perfection within the rules, "like any great footballer, like Pele, Maradona, Messi, Ronaldo, they can't hit with their arms, they have to play within the rules. "This is very important, and in Irish dance we have to cross the feet, we have to lift the legs in a certain way, so what was important to me was to keep that discipline to perfection, but then to add the arms, the face, the acting, the body, the drama, and marry the two together, without losing the discipline."

Michael Flatley was in Sofia in November ahead of his Bulgaria shows in 2026: in Sofia and Varna on April 4 and 5. He spoke to BTA's Dahnyelle Dymytrov about dance as a form of freedom, about what Irish dance gives and what it takes away, about dance as "an animal" with a life of its own and whether he believes that gestures, words and relations can also be a dance - without one moving their body.

Following is the full interview:

When did you first feel that dance could be a form of freedom?

Oh immediately. When I first sow Irish dance I believe that it was the greatest dance in the world, because of the rhythm patterns, because of the percussive element of tapping. Even as a young man, I had seen the great Rudolf Nureyev, and of course films of Fred Astaire and Jimmy Cagney, and I loved all of it, but I believed that if I could make some changes, if I could adapt Irish dance, if I could bring it into the future, that it was the greatest dance in the world, and it would give me complete freedom. 

Irish dance is a strict tradition. What does this strictness give and what does it take away?

What it gives is discipline doing something with perfection within the rules, like any great footballer, like Pele, Maradona, Messi, Ronaldo, they can't hit with their arms, they have to play within the rules.

This is very important, and in Irish dance we have to cross the feet, we have to lift the legs in a certain way, so what was important to me was to keep that discipline to perfection, but then to add the arms, the face, the acting, the body, the drama, and marry the two together, without losing the discipline. 

Is there a scene or moment in your work that you return to as your own personal miracle?

Well of course, I mean for me, when I think about coming on stage… Even when I was in bitter cold Chicago swinging the hammer, and 6 o'clock in the morning, a teenager, I don't want to be here. It was painful every minute, but in my heart, I'm walking down the steps at the back of the stage, coming onto the stage with 10,000 people standing up. Every time I do that, I return, it's a miracle. Every time, it's a miracle. 

How do you understand that a show is an "animal" that can live on its own? When do you let it breathe on its own?

Well, I think that, like any animal, it will seek to eat more, to go faster, to be better, to learn. And so, my job as the creator is to experience that and guide it so that it can continue to evolve, but again, within parameters.

Tastefully done, properly done, but it must live and breathe. 

You changed the way the world sees Irish dance. What would you like to leave behind – the movement or the spirit?

Oh, the spirit. Yes, of course. Nobody asked me a question today, if you think about it. Nobody asked me the question, how many taps? Do I accelerate the number of taps? Do I syncopate the footwork? Nobody asks me how I move across the stage. What they're interested in is what is in the heart and soul of the dance. What's the human element? What's the thing we bring? Because if you go to the show, you won't notice. But I can tell you that I notice. When people are watching me dance, they're not always looking at my feet. They're looking at my face and my spirit and my heart. What am I giving? What am I giving? The taps, it's all secondary. It's what you give with your heart. It's how you communicate. 

Do you believe that one can "dance" without a body – through words, gestures, relationships?

Of course. Yes, of course. Look at me. So, you and I are dancing now. You're dancing, even right now. Even if you don't know it, you're dancing with your eyes. And I can see that, and I can feel that. I can feel your energy. I can feel everybody's energy. And that's what's really communicative to the audiences globally. For each person. Like I tried to pick out from everybody in the room today, because I see we're all, every one of us, this is a dance. And it will never happen again. This is the first time we all met in this room together. It will never happen again. But I will remember this dance. 

You said that you have a soul of a dancer, but do you have sometimes a soul of a boxer? Did that soul return sometimes?

Yes. Very much so. Even when I dance, my dance is more attacking. My dance is aggressive, powerful, masculine, and full of passion. Maybe it's possible that came a little bit from my fighting skills.

It's possible that it did. But it wouldn't matter if I was a dancer, a musician, a rock star, a racing car driver. I will have the same passion, and I will have the same aggressive style, and I will still do the dance from my heart, different than anybody else, because that's me.

Is there a word that best describes you as a person?

 Oh, I'll let you decide that. 

How would you continue this sentence, I'm a person who loves..? 

Life.