Michael Freil
He, for playing the Irish flute
I won the world championship
He, because of practicing fighting
I won a world championship in boxing
He tap danced tap dancing for fun
As a result, I won all kinds of major championships
If you think that's all Michael Fryley is all about, you're wrong, and his accomplishments are much more than that.
In fact, the two legendary stage works of "Big River" and "King" are both written by Mike Fraley, the "god of world dances". Over the decades, from a child of the slum to a tap dancer, Frye has created countless artistic miracles with unremitting efforts and persistence, forming a huge "dance empire" that has changed the fate of countless Irish dancers, and also created a legendary life that no one in the world dance world can match.
In 2004, "The Dance of the King" was performed in Beijing for a week, and the response was enthusiastic. It is reported that starting from April 24, "Dance God" Michael Flelli will come to China with his pinnacle "Dance of Kings: Dangerous Game" and embark on the journey of the first large-scale tour in China! The first stop in Tianjin, passing through Beijing, Shanghai, Suzhou, Nanjing, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, stepping on the 2018 "Legend of kings" in China!
Son of the slum to the tap dancer, Flallis created the legend of the "king"
With countless dazzling labels on his body, he was awarded the Irish American Lifetime Achievement Award by former US President Clinton, the youngest recipient of the National Endowment for the Arts' National Heritage Award, and the Irish Dance Association's certified "First Irish Dancer". On Broadway, "Fleury Avenue" was named for him in New York's 42nd Block. As the world dance king, Fryley is a genius, and he even holds titles such as boxing champion and all-Ireland flute playing champion. In Fleley's decades of artistic career, his achievements cannot be replicated.
In July 1958, a young boy was born into an Irish immigrant family in Chicago, USA, and he was born with the blood of the Irish. He was Mike Flelli, who later became the god of world dance.
The family lived in a slum, relying on Flelli's father to work in the construction industry, and the family struggled to survive. Although his father was a builder, the family had a lot of musical cells in their veins and could play a lot of Irish music, and Fleley's mother and grandmother were both winners of Irish dance competitions.
At the age of four, Fletley learned to dance with her grandmother for the first time, but only learned to play. It wasn't until he was 11 years old that his mother began to take him to learn to dance. At that time, the teacher told him that it was too late to learn to dance until he was 11 years old. Unexpectedly, the child, who was considered too late by his teachers to learn to dance, won the World Irish Dance Championship in 1975 at the age of 17, and also set a record for the first non-European to win the championship.
After graduating from high school, due to the compulsion of life, Fleury had to work as a construction worker for a period of time. In those days, Fleury had danced on the stage at Carnegie Hall the day before, and the next day he ran back to the construction site to dig the foundation.
Fleley never forgot his father's teaching: "The only way to get ahead is to work hard, stick to your resolve, and never give up." Later, Fleury joined the Irish band Chieftain and toured with him, serving as a dancer and flute player for live performances. During the tour time, the Fleury Small Universe exploded, winning the Irish dance championship in 13 countries (including the United States) in one go.
In Freley's mind, he has always "buried" a dream for many years, that is, to create a dance masterpiece with his own label. In the 1990s, Freil got her wish, and two dance works that shocked the world were published, "Dance of the River" and "Dance of the King", which were Fleury's thick and thin dormant works. At this point, Fleury not only changed the fate of herself and thousands of Irish dancers with dance, but also fell in love with Irish kicking.
Over the years, Freil has set countless legendary records of the never-before-seen. In 1998, he broke his 1989 kicking speed of 28 times per second with 35 strokes per second, and twice refreshed the guinness world record fastest dance step, becoming the "shadowless god foot". Dance of Kings made him the highest-paid dancer on record in the Guinness Book of Worlds, earning a weekly salary of $1.6 million. In addition, one of his legs and feet also refreshed Guinness history with insurance worth 40 million.
From "The Great River" to "The King" – Fleley forged two pinnacles
Of Frallis's life's accomplishments, he was perhaps most proud of "The Dance of the Great River" and "The Dance of the King", two geniuses that are his pinnacle.
On April 30, 1994, the "Eurovision Singing Competition" that had been popular for many years went to the halftime stage, and a cheering program became the protagonist of the night. It was a 7-minute halftime performance created and led by Fryley, and the rhythmic and visually impactful performance shocked every audience, where the traditional tap dance was almost subverted, and the audience in front of the scene and the entire European television set went crazy at once.
This dance is the prototype of "The Dance of the Great River". After that crazy night, producer Moya Doherty had an idea to expand the 7-minute performance into a two-hour dance drama. Soon, Fleury and his creative team continued to use this 7-minute performance as the theme of the entire tap dance variety show "Dance of the River".
In 1995, "The Dance of the Great River" premiered in Dublin, the atmosphere was warm, the audience was crazy, the circle was sensational, and it was a success, and it was called "a real cultural symbol finally appeared in Ireland!" After that, "Dance of the Great River" began its magical journey, which has traveled to almost every corner of the earth today.
"Dance of the Great River" not only reformed the traditional dance itself, but also expanded an effective business path. In the 10 years since its birth, people have successively created nearly 200 tap dance variety shows of the same kind in Ireland, a country that did not have any professional folk dance troupes in the past, and these performances have frequently toured the world, gradually forming a huge dance industry integrating training, performance, choreography, production, art production and art education, creating a contemporary legend of the simultaneous revitalization of Irish national culture and national economy.
In October of the year of the premiere of "River Dance", Fleley left "River Dance" due to differences in artistic creation. 11 days later, Fryley regained the courage to create "Dance of kings", with the ultimate creation of Irish tap dance, completed a re-examination of his life, and artistically surpassed the proud achievements of "Dance of the Great River", and re-"uplifted" an unattainable peak for the world dance world.
"I never look back at the road I've already traveled, and I know my hope is forever in the future, in a place that others think is impossible," Fraley said. On 2 July 1996, the premiere of Dance of Kings again chose the Dublin Focus Theatre, which was a great success. At the Oscars the following year, "Dance of kings" was televised to more than 1 billion viewers around the world, making it the highest-grossing show in the United States in 1997. In 1998, "Dance of kings" was performed 21 times in the Wembley Stadium in the United Kingdom, and the venue was full, and no one has been able to break this record so far! And set a record for a dance drama watched by 120,000 people in Hyde Park!
Since then, Dance of kings has become the world's highest-grossing Irish dance drama. In just seven years from its birth, Dance of kings has reached 36 countries around the world, grossing a total of $400 million at the box office, becoming synonymous with authentic Irish tap dancing.
One is "show" and the other is "drama" - "king" is more enjoyable than "big river"
Leaving the "Big River" team, Freil's "Dance of the King" created another legend of his artistic life, and soon it became the tap dance masterpiece with the most appearances, the largest audience and the greatest influence in the world today. World dance critics have hailed it as "a work that truly brings the soul of Ireland taped to the world".
Speaking of the original intention of the creation of "Dance of kings", Flelli made it clear: "It is to surpass "Dance of the Great River", not to take revenge, but to change the regrets that still remain in "Dance of the Great River". ”
As soon as "Dance of Kings" came out, it received the attention of the whole world. In March 1997, the tour in the United States was extremely successful, attracting a total of about 2 million people. At that time, the "Dance of kings" video tape sold more than 3 million copies worldwide. It has the highest ticket revenue in the country, higher than any rock group's hit concert, and every performance of it always makes dance fans stand and scream. The legendary dancer finally put a successful end to his acting career with this work, and five years after his debut, he officially announced that he hung up his boots at a performance in London's Hyde Park, and turned to creative and teaching promotion activities around the world.
So why is "Dance of kings" sought after by dance fans all over the world? What is its charm?
In fact, Fryley's "Big River" and "The King" are two works, the former is more like a dance show with certain dramatic clues and poetic feelings, in addition to Irish tap dance, which integrates American street dance, Russian dance, Spanish flamenco dance and regional customs music and other cultural elements. The "King" is a complete story, it has a clear character relationship, a simple and sufficient story background, and constantly intensifying dramatic conflicts and contradictions, so it uses Irish dance and Irish music to construct a complete dance drama.
In addition, the "King" has swept away the more idyllic and gentle traditional style of "Dance of the Great River" in terms of choreography, stage or stage arrangement, and replaced it with a dynamic presentation of full strength. In particular, the galloping performance of the main lead dancers on the stage is full of speed and beauty, which is extremely tense and infectious, and the dancers with buoyant muscles, the rapid throbbing legs, and the storyline with dramatic conflict all make the mood of the audience fluctuate with the rhythm of the tap. The dancers' slender legs, graceful dancing postures that hover in the air, and amazing neat movements are always the most fascinating parts.
"Dance of kings" is another entertainment storm set off by Mike", After the successful production of "The Dance of the Great River", "Dance of the King" is another entertainment storm, which combines Irish tap dance with rock, jazz and so on, supplemented by top entertainment production and fashionable market packaging.
An overview of the "King" story
The flute of an elf awakens everything in the forest, and in the process of all things breeding, love also grows in the heart of the girl.
At this time, two hostile forces appeared, both working hard to compete for the heart of the beautiful girl, one side was the masked man representing the dark forces, and the other was the righteous force represented by the Dancing King.
As a result, the two continued to compete, and finally reached the highest point of dramatic conflict, with the help of good elves, after the final competition, the final victory of good over evil, light over darkness, and the end of the play with a glorious Irish finale.
2018.4.24- 25 Tianjin Jinwan Grand Theatre 2 sessions
2018.4.27-1 Beijing Exhibition Center Theater 6 sessions
2018.5.3-6 Shanghai SAIC Shanghai Culture Square 6 sessions
2018.5.8-10 Suzhou Culture and Arts Center 3 sessions
2018.5.12-13 Nanjing Jiangsu Grand Theatre 4 performances
2018.5.16-18 Guangzhou Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall 3 sessions
2018.5.19-20 Shenzhen Nanshan Cultural and Sports Center 2 sessions
Michael Fraley's "Dance of Kings Dangerous Game" Tianjin first stop!
Performance time: 2018.4.24-4.25
Venue: Tianjin Jinwan Grand Theatre
Ticket price: 200/300/400/600/800
Tianjin Performing Arts Network / Damai Network / Yongle Ticketing / Maoyan Entertainment and other channels to buy tickets!