Michael Flatley interview:'Lord of the Dance in 3-D'star on his movie and performing in New York

After more than a decade tapping his feet to a lightning-fast cadence— 28 taps per second —Michael Flatleyis jumping onto the silver screen with"Lord of the Dance in 3-D."

And, of course, it opens onSt. Patrick's Day.

"It's a dream come true,"Flatley says while visitingNew York."For years now, I've been approached many times to do something on film, but I was always apprehensive. I was never actually tempted, because I was afraid that the live show atmosphere and energy wouldn't translate to film properly.

"But with the new advances in 3-D technology, I finally found a vehicle that I think works. It's the closest thing to life."

With the new 3-D flick, expect Flatley to not only come to you but at you with his twirls, steps and kicks leaping off the screen. The performance movie was shot over a four-day period with live audiences inDublin,LondonandBerlin.

"They wanted to shoot it at a sound stage,"he says."But I said no, I want the honest reaction of the dancers on stage, of the crowd. If we make mistakes, we make mistakes, but those are honest mistakes."

The Celtic tale surrounds the Lord of the Dance battling the evil and menacing Lord of Darkness as both stomp and go to war onstage with their electric-charged feet as weapons of choice.

"Everyone loves a story about good guys against the so-called bad guys,"Flatley says."I wanted the bad guy to look­really cool. I wanted everyone to say, 'Wow, I want to be one of the bad guys too.' "

While Flatley had his hand in every aspect of the show from writing to producing, he had absolute control of the choreography, which took months to prepare. After creating the beats in his head, he recorded his tapping on a tape recorder, listening to it over and over again before matching other patterns to it.

"Just rehearsing a 30-second segment takes eight hours,"he says of the time-intensive practice regimen."We do it over and over, stopping people, moving people around, listening for the rhythm patterns. Then doing it all over again."

This attention to detail is what makes the show so physically exhausting. In an industry where the average dancer retires at the age of 25, Flatley, 52, says he goes on because of his immense passion and love for dance.

"I'm the only one when we're doing a six-week tour in the show who can't take a night or afternoon off,"he says."It takes a toll on the body."

He also wanted to leave a legacy for his 3-year-old son,Michael St. James, with wife Niamh, also an Irish dancer.

"The big thing was coming back,"he says."For the past few years, building myself all the way back up was a huge challenge, but a great one, and finally being able to leave it after me on film, to leave this now for my son, is incredible."

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