Lord of the dance dips a toe into art world

“LORD OF the Dance” Michael Flatley has taken his first faltering steps towards a potential new career as an artist.

The original Riverdancestar has created a first painting – using his feet.

Flatley made the painting by applying paint to his shoes and then tap-dancing on a canvas. He performed a dance solo from his show Celtic Tiger in which he appeared in the guise of Al Capone, the Chicago gangster who achieved infamy in the 1920s.

The result is a visual representation of his dance titled “I” which measures 3 ft 2 inches by 3ft 2 inches. He has donated the piece to be auctioned to help raise funds for restoration work at Christ Church Cathedral in Dublin. The auction will take place at Sheppard’s Irish Auction House in Durrow, Co Laois, on Friday, December 16th.

Auctioneer Philip Sheppard said: “The transmogrification of a fleeting dance movement into a fixed two-dimensional representation is, of itself, daunting; that it was created by the ‘Lord of the Dance’ makes this Jackson Pollock-esque work truly awesome.”

The American abstract painter Pollock was famous for his “drip paintings” which involved dripping and spattering paint on to a canvas. His works sell for tens of millions of dollars. Flatley’s painting has an estimate of €3,000-€5,000. It will go on public display in Sheppard’s the day before the auction.

Flatley “wanted to do something special” for Christ Church which he regards as an “iconic building”, according to a spokeswoman for the dancer.

She said Flatley was travelling overseas but confirmed he plans to create more paintings. Commenting on his first artwork, she said the experience was “very moving – it wasn’t about the paint but the emotions behind it. A lot of energy and emotion went into the picture and all of that came out on the canvas. He danced all the way through and when the dance was done, the painting was finished. The painting shows the energy, power and drama of the dance.”