{"id":"michael-flatley","type":"person","url":"https://diginpl.com/people/michael-flatley","language":"en","name":"Michael Flatley","name_en":"Michael Flatley","name_ne":null,"description":"American step dancer","headline":"American step dancer","also_known_as":[],"summary":"Michael Ryan Flatley (born July 16, 1958) is an American and Irish former professional performer and choreographer of Irish dance. Flatley is credited with reinventing traditional Irish dance by incorporating new rhythms, syncopation, and upper body movements, which were previously absent from the dance. He created and performed in Irish dance shows Riverdance, Lord of the Dance, Feet of Flames, Celtic Tiger Live and Michael Flatley's Christmas Dance Spectacular. Flatley's shows have played to more than 60 million people in 60 countries and have grossed more than $1 billion. He has also been an actor, writer, director, producer, musician, and philanthropist.","summary_more":["Flatley formerly held the Guinness World Record for tap dancing 35 times per second, and his legs were reportedly insured for £25 million. Flatley retired from dance in 2016 due to constant spinal, knee, foot, and rib pain. In January 2023, he was treated for \"an aggressive cancer\", which is now in remission."],"facts":[{"key":"born","label":"Born","values":[{"text":"16 July 1958","date":"1958-07-16"}],"source":{"label":"Wikidata","url":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q316685#P569"}},{"key":"birthplace","label":"Place of birth","values":[{"text":"Chicago","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1297"}],"source":{"label":"Wikidata","url":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q316685#P19"}},{"key":"citizenship","label":"Citizenship","values":[{"text":"United States","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q30"}],"source":{"label":"Wikidata","url":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q316685#P27"}},{"key":"occupation","label":"Occupation","values":[{"text":"dancer","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q5716684"},{"text":"choreographer","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q2490358"},{"text":"actor","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q33999"},{"text":"film director","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q2526255"},{"text":"film actor","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q10800557"},{"text":"musician","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q639669"}],"source":{"label":"Wikidata","url":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q316685#P106"}},{"key":"education","label":"Education","values":[{"text":"Brother Rice High School","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q4975553"}],"source":{"label":"Wikidata","url":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q316685#P69"}},{"key":"spouse","label":"Spouse","values":[{"text":"Beata Dziaba","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q22912331","start":"1986","end":"1997"}],"source":{"label":"Wikidata","url":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q316685#P26"}},{"key":"website","label":"Official website","values":[{"text":"michaelflatley.com","url":"http://www.michaelflatley.com/"}],"source":{"label":"Wikidata","url":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q316685#P856"}},{"key":"awards","label":"Awards","values":[{"text":"Ellis Island Medal of Honor","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q5365910"}],"source":{"label":"Wikidata","url":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q316685#P166"}},{"key":"facebook","label":"Facebook","values":[{"text":"MichaelFlatley","url":"https://www.facebook.com/MichaelFlatley"}],"source":{"label":"Wikidata","url":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q316685#P2013"}}],"office":null,"sections":[],"cited":[],"cited_from":null,"videos":[],"last_reviewed":null,"organizations":[],"same_as":["https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Flatley","https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q316685","http://www.michaelflatley.com/","https://www.facebook.com/MichaelFlatley"],"faq":[{"q":"When was Michael Flatley born?","a":"Michael Flatley was born on 16 July 1958 in Chicago."},{"q":"Where did Michael Flatley study?","a":"Michael Flatley was educated at Brother Rice High School."}],"related":[{"name":"Daniel Snyder","url":"https://diginpl.com/people/daniel-snyder"},{"name":"George Lucas","url":"https://diginpl.com/people/george-lucas"},{"name":"Jeffrey Lurie","url":"https://diginpl.com/people/jeffrey-lurie"},{"name":"Steven Spielberg","url":"https://diginpl.com/people/steven-spielberg"},{"name":"Adam Sandler","url":"https://diginpl.com/people/adam-sandler"},{"name":"Barbra Streisand","url":"https://diginpl.com/people/barbra-streisand"},{"name":"Bill Cosby","url":"https://diginpl.com/people/bill-cosby"},{"name":"David Copperfield","url":"https://diginpl.com/people/david-copperfield"},{"name":"David Letterman","url":"https://diginpl.com/people/david-letterman"},{"name":"Ellen DeGeneres","url":"https://diginpl.com/people/ellen-degeneres"},{"name":"George Clooney","url":"https://diginpl.com/people/george-clooney"},{"name":"George Condo","url":"https://diginpl.com/people/george-condo"}],"places_in":[],"nearby":[],"image":{"url":"https://diginpl.com/kb-img/michael-flatley-ca5a692bed.jpg","width":500,"height":828,"license":"CC BY-SA 2.0","credit":"Flatley_alone.jpg : https://www.flickr.com/photos/maxguy derivative work: Beaumain ( talk )","page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Flatley_alone_cropped.jpg"},"sources":[{"label":"Wikipedia (English): Michael Flatley","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Flatley","license":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/"},{"label":"Wikidata item Q316685","url":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q316685","license":"https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/"},{"label":"Image: Flatley alone cropped.jpg by Flatley_alone.jpg : https://www.flickr.com/photos/maxguy derivative work: Beaumain ( talk ) (CC BY-SA 2.0)","url":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Flatley_alone_cropped.jpg","license":null}],"license":{"text":"CC BY-SA 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/","facts":"https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/"},"attribution":"Text from the Wikipedia article Michael Flatley, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. This page's text is shared under the same licence. Facts from Wikidata (CC0). Image: Flatley alone cropped.jpg — Flatley_alone.jpg : https://www.flickr.com/photos/maxguy derivative work: Beaumain ( talk ), CC BY-SA 2.0.","cite":"\"Michael Flatley\". DigiNepal. Last updated 31 October 2026. https://diginpl.com/people/michael-flatley. Retrieved 14 November 2026.","date_modified":"2026-10-31T12:00:53Z","facts_checked":"2026-11-13","alternates":{"html":"https://diginpl.com/people/michael-flatley","en":"https://diginpl.com/people/michael-flatley","ne":"https://diginpl.com/people/michael-flatley?lang=ne"}}