Today there are only two Lords of the Dance in the world, handpicked by Michael Flatley as his successors for the 25th anniversary tour: Matt Smith and Cathal Keaney. This is Matt Smith and Team Lord rehearsing the show's title number. Matt Smith: the boy who followed his dream. As a small child he saw the original 1996 #LOTD video with Michael Flatley, pointed to the TV screen, and told his mum, "I want to be that." Fast-forward a quarter of a century, and Matt Smith *is* the Lord of the Dance.

Let's celebrate the bad guy! As we're getting close to Halloween and it's the 25th anniversary year of Lord of the Dance, it's time to spotlight everyone's favorite Irish dance villain: Don Dorcha the Dark Lord, performed here by Tom Cunningham and Zoltan Papp. As with all Then And Now videos, we've combined the Feet of Flames videos from 2009 and 2020, since they were filmed on exactly the same stage set in exactly the same venue. Tom Cunningham holds the record for the most number of appearanc

From Team Flatley: (Before we begin: a reminder that posts labeled "From Team Flatley" come from Michael's social media team, not Michael himself.) Here's why you should follow your dream: In 1994, no one had heard of a professional Irish dance show. The very idea of buying tickets to see an obscure cultural step dance was ludicrous. In 1995, no one thought the marketplace could sustain more than one major professional Irish dance show; it was simply lightning in a bottle, brought to life by Mic