Marvelous feet

Irish legend Michael Flatley is presenting his show, Lord of the Dance: Dangerous Games, in Beijing. Chen Nan reports.

Two espressos start the day for Michael Flatley and then after two to three miles of running in the morning, he makes lots of phone calls, or travels from one country to another.

It's a typical day for Flatley, the world renowned dancer-choreographer, who is credited with revolutionizing the traditional Irish dance. He has been dazzling crowds around the world by creating and choreographing the popular show, Riverdance, in 1994, and continued his work by choreographing, producing and directing the show, Lord of the Dance, in 1996.

His latest stop is Beijing. Along with his dancers, Flatley, 59, will stage his dance production, Lord of the Dance: Dangerous Games, in the capital, from Friday to Tuesday at the Theater of Beijing Exhibition Hall.

The show will tour other Chinese cities through May 20, including Shanghai, Suzhou, Nanjing and Guangzhou.

It's the first China tour of the show, Lord of the Dance: Dangerous Games, a "turbo-charged" version of Lord of the Dance, which premiered in Dublin in 1996.

So far, the show, Lord of the Dance, has been watched by 60 million people from 60 countries.

"Lord of the Dance: Dangerous Games still has the storyline of the good versus the evil. But the audience will still be surprised with all the new technology, such as the holograms and pyrotechnics, which are a good complement to the dancers and the story," says Flatley.

The dancer-choreographer came to Beijing for the first time in 2004 when Lord of the Dance was staged in the capital. And besides the positive feedback from the audience, he was impressed by the Chinese dancers he auditioned in Beijing.