Why So Blu?

Interview with Michael Flatley

September 19, 1997 is a date I will always remember.  I have been fortunate enough in my life that I got to interview (and later meet) someone who inspired more than anyone else.  This may sound cliché, but Irish dance changed me, my life, the way I approach things, etc.  This interview, while it didn’t really fall into my lap, well, I’m just going to say it fell into my lap.  I had been chatting online one day with a fellow Lord of the Dance fan named ‘Mitzi.’  She was telling me how she interviewed the four main leads of Lord of the Dance; Michael Flatley, Daire Nolan, Bernadette Flynn, and Gillian Norris.  It frustrated me how popular this show had become yet so few around me were aware of it.  I told Mitzi that I was going to contact my local newspaper and see if I can write an article for them about the increased popularity of Irish dance and these shows.  In the blink of an eye and with her keen sense of direction, she sent me on my way with some valuable advice that led me to interview Mr. Michael Flatley.  Wherever you are today, Mitzi, I am truly grateful for what you had done for me.

Up to this interview that you are about to listen, I was taking tap dance, a fine form of dance to be sure, but it’s not Irish.  It’s not what I wanted.  It didn’t move me in a spiritual sense.  At 20 years old at the time, try finding an Irish dance teacher that takes adults and you would probably want to play the lottery the same day.  After all, it felt like the odds were about the same.  Yet the day after I completed this interview, I was on the phone with Irish dance schools throughout my area and through some serious post-interview motivation and the graces of one Peggy Cannon-O’Donnell, I was on my way to learning an art form that has forever changed my life. 

Now what you are about to hear is probably not the best interview you will ever encounter.  Heck, it may not even be the best Flatley interview you will ever encounter, but it is a candid 15 minutes or so with a guy from Chicago who completely altered the landscape of professional dance.  For the first time ever interviewing someone, I guess I landed on a pretty impressive subject.  I was nervous, I was tense, I pronounced Daire Nolan’s name as dare-ee (it’s dare-uh) and the audio is a tad rough, but when that phone call that began at 5:01pm EST on the 19th September, 1997 had concluded, I had finally reached Cloud 9.   I’m 33 now and while that’s not old, the knees do ache a little more and ankles crack a little louder than they used to, but if that’s the price to pay for the wings I have been given, I wouldn’t have it any other way.  I have since danced in front of friends, family, strangers, and celebrities and I have the Lord of the Dance himself to thank for every moment of it.  Thank you, Mr. Flatley. 

 

 

Without further ado, I give you my telephone interview with Michael Flatley…

 

Part 1 

 

 

Part 2 

 

 

 

Bring home Lord of the Dance: My Story (autobiography) today!