Michael Ryan Flatley (born July 16, 1958 in Chicago) is an Irish-American step dancer whose parents were from County Mayo. He moved to Ireland and began dancing lessons at the age of 14.

His teacher told him he would not be able to compete professionally as he would have had to start dancing at an earlier age. He competed with Colin Dunne for the lead in Riverdance. Jean Butler and Michael Flatley led Riverdance to great success in 1990, eventually dancing at Radio City Music Hall. After quitting the show Flatley began his own show, Lord of the Dance. Colin Dunne worked with Jean Butler, taking Flatley's role as lead. More recently, Flatley put together a dance production called Feet of Flames.