FEET of FLAMES
HYDE PARK JULY 25th, 1998

(The study here presupposes detailed knowledge of the previous Michael Flatley
show, Lord of the Dance, and should be read in conjunction
with the page dedicated to that show.)

The title 'Feet of Flames' was first applied to a Michael Flatley show in a unique, one-night outdoor event in London's Hyde Park, at the so-called Route of Kings, a natural hollow used for concerts at the Park Lane end of the park. Apparently the direct result of a casual conversation between Michael and his friend and business manager, Martin Flitton, earlier that year (1998), its original intent was as a Grande Finale extravaganza of Michael's own Lord of the Dance world tour, and as his stage 'farewell'. Two solid years of touring with Lord of the Dance, especially as that came straight after Riverdance, had taken their toll on Michael physically, mentally and emotionally, and he knew his manic schedule had to cease. At the time he was unable to see past the 'stop!' sign, particularly having had doctors tell him repeatedly how hard he had pushed his body and what danger he had put it in. Since Lord of the Dance had been created at speed and under severe financial pressure, he knew there was still much he wanted to do with it, and as the Hyde Park plan included making a new video of the performance and including a considerable amount of new material, it made sense to give the occasion its own special title. In the event, the Hyde Park 'Feet of Flames' proved to be not only a unique spectacle but to form both the climax of one Flatley creative era and the prelude to another.

The occasion of July 25th was staged in flamboyant, festive style, with enormous shell stage providing a vast dance floor. It had three portruding circular areas for feature moments, and even a balcony dance space running right around the back of the stage high above the ground. The audience were first treated, most unexpectedly, to an impressive line-up of un-billled 'warm-up' acts during the two hours before the show, which included high-profile Irish names clearly there through personal friendship, as it would have been a long time since most of them performed as 'support' acts. They included Mary Black, the Medieval Babes, Sharon Shannon and Brian Kennedy, among others. The unpredictable British weather accepted Michael's determined belief that everything would be perfect and despite rain being reported within a very few miles, London that day basked in glorious sunshine and when twilight came produced an evening to surpass even Michael's dreams. For all those present it felt like a gigantic party to which we had all been invited, so different was it to anything seen before. For the core fans, of course, it also held the tragic quality of an Irish wake, since it was scheduled as Michael's swansong performance, and they had gathered from all over the world to be there in support, one of them raising a banner repeatedly through the evening that proclaimed poignantly: 'FOREVER DANCING IN OUR HEARTS', a phrase that would become permanent part of Flatleyland vocabulary. When the early evening programme concluded, and the light had faded just enough for the show to begin, five Pipe Bands marched in ceremonially playing through the centre of the 25,000-strong crowd, heightening the tension and excitement of all already emotionally charged evening, and the show began.

EVOLUTION

During its two years on tour, Lord of the Dance had continued to evolve. Encouraged by Ronan Hardiman, Michael had added a musical number to the show, 'Celtic Fire', in which he joined the band on stage with his flute. Ronan had wanted Michael to include a flute number from the beginning, being a great admirer of Michael's prowess as a flautist, but there had not been time to formulate a number in the early days. 'Celtic Fire' apparently began as a sound check on tour when Michael and the band would play together spontaneously while the stage was being set up in a new venue. Once slotted into the programme - coming directly after the violin 'Lament' of the second act, it immediately caught the fans' enthusiasm and became a firm favourite, nicknamed 'the flute jam!' In the Hyde Park show a second flute number was also created for the second act, the magical 'Whispering Wind', Michael's very personal interpretation of one of his mother's favourite Irish airs, 'An Chulain' ('The Fairhaired One').

The basic storyline of Lord of the Dance remained, but expanded and polished for a vast, arena audience, and using giant TV screens so that no-one missed a step of the footwork no matter where they sat. To take any dance show, let alone an Irish dance show, to this 'rock event' level was something Michael had been told dogmatically and incessantly he could not do, it would never work. In Hyde Park, on a perfect summer's night, he proved that belief wrong for once and for all. No-one had believed a dance show could be big enough to do what Michael dreamed of, but his vision knew no limits and now he had the financial means to achieve it. No longer was he confined to rehearse in pokey, unsuitable surroundings in a city backstreet, he was able to hire an aircraft hangar, ideal to design and build the gigantic set with 200-foot wide stage, and to train the dramatically expanded troupe of 111 dancers who would take the stage with him, even dancing on multiple levels on occasion through the show.

It was all created very fast, conceived while Lord of the Dance still toured, with Michael still performing his role. Much must have been done by phone - Ronan Hardiman has referred to arranging details of the music in hasty phone calls to and from Michael in South Africa, made between numbers during a show! No doubt Michael found much of the process frustrating, having the ideas for whole new shows in his head just waiting to erupt, but without the time to make them reality. The last performance of Lord of the Dance in original form took place in Dublin on June 28th. He and the cast then had a mere three weeks to have Feet of Flames ready for the audience and the twenty-five state-of-the-art video cameras in Hyde Park.

Much of the alteration was done in the form of dressing - new, upgraded costumes throughout the show, bringing in more vibrant colours and updated fabrics and styles. In the programme book the credit for costume design has Michael's own name on it, and although the restricted timescale means professional costumers must have also had significant input to designs, his stamp is clearly visible in both the quality of the new costumes and in the combination of tradition and modern in their distinctive, fashion-aware styles. The Little Spirit now sparkled gold from head to foot, even her whistle twinkling as she played her magic notes. For 'Cry of the Celts' the quiet dark blues became jewel tones, and the enlarged chorus of girls had a second set of costumes for the end of the number, unusual, straight-cut vivid blue dresses of very modern, one-shouldered style. Michael's costume too was new, the pants now the brillliant blue of medieval wode, decorated with gold Celtic knotwork. The blue of the wode matched the Celtic eternity symbol etched on his cheek, the burnished gold of his T-shirt top was gleaming gold, also his armband.

One of the most remarkable aspects of his new costume was that he had a spectacular wode blue jacket made to wear over it, an unusual version of his favoured short bolero style, with wide, slightly military square shoulders, exaggerated pointed collar and cuffs, and decorated with heavily textured gold braid knotwork. It was an impressive finishing touch to the costume which was never seen by the live audience, as he wore it only for the camera, to walk across the field from the dressing rooms to the back of the stage just before the show, and at no other time during the event. Many would say it was an unneccesary extra accessory, but his mind's eye knew that on the video, it would be belong perfectly and complete the picture in the opening sequence.

That he planned the occasion to such extent is testament to his extreme perfectionist's attention to detail, and to his ability to visualise every smallest moment of his creations from start to finish. Nothing is accidental in his work, no matter how obscure or unexpected, everything has deliberate purpose and is part of the genius master plan. Further evolution in Michael's stage image came in the form of the heels of his shoes, which were no longer covered traditionally in black leather but left shining silver, ideal of course to showcase the mesmerising footwork to the maximum, particularly on camera. Interestingly, now, eight years on, dance shoe manufacturers are marketing silver-heeled hornpipe shoes as the latest trend in Irish dance footwear! Michael's revolution has already changed the make and materials of the shoes radically, as dancers require more durable but lighter weight and more flexible designs, and dancers exist in such huge numbers around the world that suppliers are eager to meet their demands.

'...One muscle at a time...'

Anne Buckley's segments of the show also received renewal, with different selection of well-known traditional Irish songs, and now she was accorded a different gown for each of her three appearances. For her first song, the modern classic ballad 'Marble Halls', she was dressed in emerald green, a long, sleek dress with slightly flared skirt trailing regally out along the stage behind her, full-length sleeves and graceful low-scooped neckline. The fabric was unpatterned, but spattered with silver stardust in one diagonal ripple up the front of the dress. Her look was finished with diamante hairband and delicatedly cascading diamante earrings. Her second dress, for the Gaelic language ballad 'Maghdain Mara', towards the climax of the first act, she wore a fabulous white gown reminiscent of a Celtic wedding dress, of glistening white fabric, cut with similar outline to the emerald dress but decorated with heavily encrusted gold embroidered Celtic knotwork on the bodice front, trailing rear hemline and sleeve ends. In the second act, she sang the classic 'Carrickfergus', with its so-Irish lyric of the emigrant yearning for home, and this time her gown, again cut in similar style, was of sparkling creamy gold, and its decoration was of three rippling tongues of flame up the front of the dress, in orange, white and green. For this final number she wore a fairytale tiara in her hair. Her two years on tour with Lord of the Dance had honed her performance to spellbinding level, her moves as special as her voice - as Michael put it, 'no-one could move one muscle at a time across the stage like Anne'.

The show numbers like 'Celtic Dream' and 'Siamsa' had now bloomed and grown in kaleidascope visions, both in form and colour, and an extra 'siamsa -style' number added so that there was one in each act of the show. With much larger troupes these dances were automatically much richer in effect, and with more highly coloured lighting, all added to the party atmosphere, and Ronan Hardiman's melodious and colourful music added a magical quality. The formations in the dances too had evolved greatly, created as much for the camera as the live audience, many of their shapes only seen by the overhead camera, designs in constant motion sketched by the dancers around the stage, echoing the dance movies of Hollywood's golden era. Creating these routines, Michael had the ideal partner in his Dance Director and Assistant Choreographer, Marie Duffy, as she was famous for her former Irish dance school's success with this style of troupe dance at major international feiseanna (dance competitions).

The Dark Lord and his men enjoyed upgraded costuming also, given richness with silver face masks and Celtic motif on their shirts, Don Dorcha silver foil sleeved vest under his 'armour' and a silver lined sapphire velvet cloak worn medieval style, fastened on one shoulder and caught at the waist on the opposite side. His combat pants were of matching sapphire crushed velvet. His men were now clad in purple-toned costumed (coincidentally, shades of purple constituted the height of 1998 summer fashion), their pants cut combat-style and shadow-patterned with camouflage pattern. Their entrance, too, was now more dramatic, via sloping drawbridge ramps at either side of the stage, raised and lowered as needed, which in between were disguised as decorative panels with gold painted Celtic unicorns rising out of flames. With increased numbers in this troupe also, and a much matured stage presence after two years' experience, the menace of the Don Dorcha and his men now carried much greater power than before.

In 'Breakout' the girls' dresses, interestingly, took on a more authentically 'Irish dance' look, designed to look more like feis (competition) dresses, although without the normal stiffening (what a pity feis dresses can't follow suit and be softened a little too!), using shining jewel-toned fabrics and decorated with elaborate knotwork that featured a pair of entwined unicorns on the skirt. The 'Breakout' costumes have seen many versions through the years, but none have matched this set. When stripped off, the shorts and tops outfits now sported classic green eternity knot symbols on the hips, emphasizing (whether intentionally or not) that this dance signifies the emancipation of the Irish spirit rather than that of women in general.

MATADOR

For 'Warlords' Michael's black leather had gone through many stages of metamorphosis during the previous two years. At its most elaborate, for the record-breaking Wembley earlier that year the suit had dripped with fringes of silver chain, superbly effective as it was full of movement, but sadly, slightly impractical as the pieces of fringing tended to fly off during the dance! That costume was perhaps the last time the leather suits would have the 'Harley Davidson look', after that moving into a more theatrical genre. For Feet of Flames the design took on a distinct flavour of Spanish matador, studded with diamonte and complete with cordoba hat - an accessory Michael had used as far back as 1987 in his performance with the Chieftains. In that instance he had played the matador image through, stripping off his jacket and using it like a matador's cape as he danced. In act two of Feet of Flames, for the 'Whispering Wind' flute solo, he wore a second black leather suit, this time with white shirt beneath, and pure black without decoration, although the jacket was enriched with complex pleating and stitching, and strange rolls of leather on the shoulder seams. It also had high-cut collar and deep turned-back cuffs, and with the full-cut shirt this gave the suit the suggestion of a period piece, something he would develop further in his next show era.

LANGUAGE WITH NO WORDS

In Hyde Park the show had no interval but ran without pause. Instead of intermission after the signature 'Lord of the Dance' number, a choir of more than thirty hooded monks took the stage and chanted a full new piece, 'High Priests', specially composed for the occasion by Ronan Hardiman. The group, announced as 'Dun' in the programme, was assembled for the show, but included top choral singers from other Irish choirs, fronted by Eunan McDonald. The song they chanted has always intrigued, for its lyric is quite clear and yet no-one can translate it - for the very good reason that its language does not exist! It is characteristic of Ronan's work to use the human voice to create sounds rather than words, and in this number he took that idea to the limit, creating a full language of the sounds, a language without words so convincing that listeners are certain they must be able to decipher the meaning. It all added to the mysterious quality of the atmosphere, and not a small touch of subtle humour as well.

Before the tension begins to build through act two then came one more new musical interlude, a haunting flute solo from Michael, which ultimately had as much impact as his dazzling new solo at the end of the show. Audiences had delighted in his energetic playing with the band, but this was the first time he had been persuaded to take his flute centrestage for a solo number. For it he had chosen a childhood favourite traditional ballad that his mother loved, 'An Chulain', and with Ronan, adapted it and made it his own. In the programme book it was listed as 'Whistling Wind' (there was a track of that title, of Michael's own composition, on his flute album from the 1980's) but when the CD of it was released later, and in the subsequent Feet of Flames productions, it was titled 'Whispering Wind'. Ronan recalled later that he created the soft orchestral introduction and backing, and Michael himself arranged the flute part, a necessity in fact as it was done when Michael was still abroad on tour! That Michael chose this particular piece is noteworthy, as although it is known and loved by Irish people, among musicians it is renowned for its deceptive complexity and many avoid playing it in favour of another similar but much easier tune. The intricacies of Michael's solo revealed themselves in full force afterwards when a professional, who undertook the task of transcribing the piece by ear for piano solo, proclaimed the whole number one of the most sophisticated and complex pieces of musical dictation he had ever heard. That it should be so challenging seems fitting in view of the melody's legend that says there is a spell on it and it can never be reproduced perfectly! In Hyde Park, however, the sweet liquid sounds flowed effortlessly from Michael's soul through his flute, captivating the hushed crowd in the twilight of the evening, and the two-and-a-half minute number became an immediate classic.

MASTERPIECES

Directly after his solo came another fabulous new item, 'Saoirse: Dance of Love', danced by the exquisite Bernadette Flynn, dressed in a most feminine and elegant outfit of sparkling black and white. Michael paused as he exited the stage to take her hand as she entered down a flight of stairs, and led her forward a few paces to present her to the audience before he left. The top of her two-piece costume was basque-style, very slightly cropped, and the skirt of delicately fluted, star-spangled black chiffon sitting slightly beow the waist, its hemline fluttering gently as she moved. In her golden hair sat a small fairy tiara of diamante. Her solo, danced to Ronan's beautiful arrangement of the traditional 'King of the Fairies' melody and featuring MIchael playing the flute once again (though this time not on stage), was a hard shoe piece, but so brilliantly executed that although her taps were slick and sharp as a razor, Bernadette seemed to glide across the floor, her still body totally without stiffness and her movement fluid, light and graceful as a true-life fairy. It was, for many people, the most perfect female solo of all. That it was never used again in live performance was a great shame but perhaps made it all the more special. At its end, in a charming touch, two of the male dancers came on, dressed in formal dark dress suits, to escort her from the stage. It was followed by another, more daring and controversial masterpiece, Gillian Norris' second gypsy dance, now not the one from Lord of the Dance but newly created and named 'Entracte'. It was Gillian at her sultry best and sporting a unique leopard-printed bodysuit costume in red. Even her shoes were red, first the high-heeled sandals she wore for her entrance, and when she kicked those off cheekily to dance, her pomps as well were matching red.

The bodysuit was figure-hugging, with deep V-neckline laced together, extremely sexy but so well designed and made that it was in no way vulgar or revealing, only chic. The brief cameo scene at the beginning, when she eyed the Lord of the Dance flirtatiously, was more developed than in the earlier show, as Bernadette now appeared on stage to take the Lord of the Dance by the arm and lead him gently away, in a moment that set the scene for the 'Stolen Kiss' number soon to come. Gillian's solo dance that followed played up the feline imagery of her costume, having her slink along the floor and including jungle-flavoured moves, provocatively but subtly sensual and all tinged with her characteristic youthful mischief, her big dark eyes full of fun as she teased the audience. The whole piece, right down to the mischievous wink she gave the audience at the end, was sheer class. Sadly, this number too, was a once-off and not repeated.

The Little Spirit's games, although basically following the same storyline, got her into enhanced trouble in this show, inevitably, and Helen Egan's acting talents rose to the occasion with energy and emotion, even to the point that tears flowed down her cheek as her hero mended her precious whistle after rescuing her from the enemy's clutches. The hooded monks of the choir lined up along the back of the stage bearing flaming torches and chanting during the battle scene, lending a darker and more sinister feel to it than in the earlier production.

COLOUR

The interlude of colourful numbers after the battle and the mending of the Little Spirit's whistle was extended in Feet of Flames to include not only the expanded and updated 'Siamsa' piece and Anne Buckley's 'Carrickfergus' but also the 'Celtic Fire' band number with Michael on flute, which followed straight after the violin duet, 'The Lament', the fiddlers remaining on stage to be joined by Michael and the rest of the band. For this Michael wore the jacket he had had made for St. Patrick's Day in the US the year before, one he had said himself he was not quite sure about at first, and wondered if it was a little 'over the top'. His fans were adamant that it was not, it was just perfect, and 'the flag jacket' became a top favourite among them. Made of white glitterball fabric, and with the logo unicorn head embroidered across the back in brilliant red sequins, the front panels of the jacket were sequin encrusted on the right side with the stars and stripes of the American flag, and on the left with the tri-colour of the Irish flag. On the sleeves, the flag colours were used to outline rich Celtic interlaced knotwork, entirely in sequins.

The dance' Stolen Kiss' remained more or less unchanged, but the drama of the capture and execution numbers was accentuated, and the extended 'Duel' dance bore rather different character. Clever use was made of the circular stage extensions here, as the trap door from which the Lord of the Dance rose through dry ice mist for his showdown with the Dark Lord was in one of them, and the Dark Lord watched the event from another. Then visual and sound effects of thunder and lightning roused both men into battle. Their fight was longer and more powerful than before, with deeper content of dramatic acting for both parties, and the tension was increased as the outcome only came after near disaster, with the Lord of the Dance high-kicked to the ground by Don Dorcha and all but defeated - perfect added dramatic element and also so true to Michael's own life. The Little Spirit here had her turn to be the vital key once more, and this time with her twin to echo her magic music from high on the balcony as well, and the sounds of his special tune woke new energy and belief in the Lord of the Dance, who pulled himself to his feet and promptly danced his enemy, literally, into the ground, as finally one of his bursts of taps caused explosion that killed the Dark Lord, blasting him through another trap door and presumably all the way to Hell's inferno. The good having finally won the day, the Little Spirit and Saoirse returned to celebrate with the Lord of the Dance, and moments later the troupe, in hooded cloaks but with bare heads, marched triumphantly through, closely followed by the Little Spirit, who bounced joyfully about the stage brandishing her candle torch as the lights flashed and the music rose for the 'Victory' dance.

'Victory' was left the same, which was fitting as it was such a classic, but it was freshly costumed, dresses following the same design but made in rich black velvet and decorated lavishly with silver knotwork, even a silver knot added to the black stockings. This time the principal dancers came on stage in their own solo costumes, white lace dress for Bernadette, red gypsy dress for Gillian, and Daire Nolan complete with Don Dorcha's cloak. Michael's costume was black and white to match the troupe, but with lighter weight jacket of silver glitter fabric, and decorated with modest amount of black embroidered knotwork, and the monogram of his initials worked across the back.

FEET of FLAMES

The finale of the show of course left the audience charged with energy, and the atmosphere was electric even before the single spotlight lit as Michael took an exuberant leap onto the central circular stage extension, smiling and greeting the audience in his very personally connecting way. This was the pivotal scene of the show, the solo from which the name came. For it, he returned to his now familiar black leather pants with the studded, long-tailed thong adorning one leg, and to his much-favoured black Cordoba hat. He wore no shirt, only another bolero jacket, this one completely covered in scarlet red glitter accented with silver and black abstract flame swirls and waves. The dance was acapella, its music created by the taps alone, his trademark style, but the step sequences were like nothing he had created before. With dazzling variety of rhythm patterns, styles and speeds, it was not Irish, not tap, not Flamenco, not traditional nor modern, it was all of them and none of them, a dance so sophisticated that it needed masterclass training to comprehend it, yet it held the whole audience spellbound. The dance had every emotion, even humour, as in a typical moment of mischief, he touched his heel with his fingers, then shaking them as if having burnt them on the metal as it apparently 'smoked' from the speed. When he paused to catch his breath and looked into the crowd, his eyes shone and his spontaneous smile radiated the joy that sharing his creation gave him, and drew a roar of thrilled applause. After the moment of relaxation, his focus turned inwards again as he took off his hat and tossed it out into the crowd. Then came the second burst of steps, at first slow and measured, then building steadily into a frenzy of speed which took him back into the main stage area, where he finally 'exploded' out of sight in a ball of fire. The audience had waited all evening for the signature dance, and they had not been disappointed.

Yet even then the night was not done, for there was the famous 'Planet Ireland' encore to come, and the final spectacular statement to stage. The Hyde Park set was the world's largest dance show stage, and it was now filled with more than a hundred dancers, lit with rhythmically moving beams of green and gold light. They were costumed in very modern style, the girls in short silver jumpsuits decorated with black embroidery, the men in black-belted silver suits. Michael continued to wear the flame jacket, its red sparkle standing out against the background. As well as filling the stage, the dancers lined the full semi-circle of the balcony high above, and as the dance developed, gradually bands of the stage began to rise, taking the dancers to multiple levels and revealing the colours of the Irish flag between the stage levels. An impressive technical achievement, it was the ultimate challenge to the dancers also, and one they shone through, never missing a beat.

After several reprises, the night finally came to an end. The troupe had danced into history at the unique event and done their leader proud. He must have been running on pure adrenelin by then, having admitted that beforehand, at the end of the Lord of the Dance tour, he was so exhausted he could scarcely walk at times, but he had delivered another milestone performance of his career, which at the time was billed, and believed by many, to be his last, and at its end he had produced his most outstanding solo of all. At last, in finest Hollywood tradition, the show closed in a blaze of fireworks across the night sky, and in final high-emotion, dramatic gesture, a single spotlight lit once again, symbolically highlighting a pair of his dance shoes before all went dark for good.

The Feet of Flames solo was the cornerstone piece in the Hyde Park show. It was also perhaps the clue to the future as it was such a dramatic development of Michael's creative dance style. Such a progression was it from all that had gone before, it was impossible to believe it was a concluding chapter - it could only be the prelude to a new one, and the athleticism and extraordinary skill which he displayed in the steps made it inconceivable that his dancing career was done. Time out was an accepted, and right interlude, but the sensational spectacle the new show presented clearly heralded so much more to come from the Master showman.

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