Michael Ryan Flatley (born July 16, 1958) is an American dancer. He became known for creating and performing 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, and philanthropist. 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 formerly held the Guinness World Record for tap dancing 35 times per second and his feet were at one time insured for $57.6 million. Flatley retired from dance in 2016 due to constant spinal, knee, foot, and rib pain. He is currently being treated for "an aggressive cancer". Source: Wikipedia (en)