DANCE: MR. BIG OF THE NEW JIG

IRISH-DANCE EXTRAVAGANZAS ARE SELLING OUT ACROSS THE COUNTRY--AND MICHAEL FLATLEY ISN'T SHY ABOUT STEPPING UP TO TAKE THE CREDIT

To spend even a few moments with dancer/choreographer Michael Flatley in his off hours--say, the morning after a three-encore performance of his touring Irish-dance spectacular Lord of the Dance--is to know you are in the presence of someone for whom the gift of a Tony Robbins seminar would be as superfluous as a swimming lesson for Mark Spitz. Flatley knows well how to assert himself. When he isn't dancing, he is swaggering; when he isn't in stage sequins, he is wearing leather, diamonds and enough cologne to deodorize a landfill in July. At 38 and a compact 5 ft. 9 in.,...

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