Daire Nolan (born 1 December 1968) is an Irish

dancer Dance is an The arts, art form, consisting of sequences of body movements with aesthetic and often Symbol, symbolic value, either improvised or purposefully selected. Dance can be categorized and described by its choreography, by its repertoir ...

and

choreographer Choreography is the art of designing sequences of movements of physical bodies (or their depictions) in which Motion (physics), motion or Visual appearance, form or both are specified. ''Choreography'' may also refer to the design itself. A chor ...

best known for his work in '' Lord of the Dance'' and '' Feet of Flames''. Nolan began dancing the age of ten under the guidance of his parents Rose and Tony Nolan in

Limerick Limerick ( ; ) is a city in western Ireland, in County Limerick. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster and is in the Mid-West Region, Ireland, Mid-West which comprises part of the Southern Region, Ireland, Southern Region. W ...

and is no stranger to the international stage. He is undoubtedly the most famous "baddie" (evil stage character) within the

Irish dance Irish dance refers to the traditional dance forms that originate in Ireland, including both solo and group dance forms, for social, competitive, and performance purposes. Irish dance has evolved over centuries and is believed to have its roots i ...

world since he was the original "Dark Lord" in Michael Flatley's show, '' Lord of the Dance''. He later played the role in Flatley's show, '' Feet of Flames''. He left the show in 2001. Twice World champion and three times All-Ireland champion, Nolan has performed throughout Europe and in the United States of America, South Africa, Canada, Israel and Australia. He has also appeared on numerous television shows including ''

The Tonight Show with Jay Leno ''The Tonight Show with Jay Leno'' is an American television talk show broadcast by NBC. The show is the fourth and sixth installment of ''The Tonight Show''. Hosted by Jay Leno, it aired from May 25, 1992, to May 29, 2009, replacing ''The Ton ...

'' and ''

The Rosie O'Donnell Show ''The Rosie O'Donnell Show'' is an American daytime variety show, variety television talk show created, hosted, and produced by actress and comedian Rosie O'Donnell. It premiered on June 10, 1996, and concluded after six seasons on June 27, 200 ...

'' in the US, and '' Des O'Connor Tonight'' in Britain. Nolan performed on Michael Flatley's tribute programme on RTÉ's '' The Late Late Show'' special during 2000. He has also performed with

The Chieftains The Chieftains were a traditional Irish folk band formed in Dublin in 1962, by Paddy Moloney, Seán Potts and Michael Tubridy. Their sound, which is almost entirely instrumental and largely built around uilleann pipes, has become synonymous w ...

in the past and at the Oscars in Los Angeles in 1998. After leaving ''Lord of the Dance'' Nolan joined the cast of ''To Dance on the Moon'' a production which has already played to in excess to 1 million people throughout Europe, Australia, New Zealand and Taiwan. Both Nolan and his brother Cian has played a major role in the development of this production, as well as ''Legend of the Knight'' and ''Dance of Desire''. A past under-20

Munster Rugby Munster Rugby () is one of the professional provincial rugby union, rugby teams from the island of Ireland. They compete in the United Rugby Championship and the European Rugby Champions Cup. The team represents the Irish Rugby Football Union, ...

player and All Ireland

long jump The long jump is a track and field event in which athletes combine speed, strength and agility in an attempt to leap as far as possible from a takeoff point. Along with the triple jump, the two events that measure jumping for distance as a gr ...

and

triple jump The triple jump, sometimes referred to as the hop, step and jump or the hop, skip and jump, is a track and field event, similar to long jump. As a group, the two events are referred to as the "horizontal jumps". The competitor runs down the tr ...

champion, Nolan has since retired from stage dancing and now resides in Limerick with his wife Carol, his two daughters Fia and Alva and his son Shay. He currently works in Element Six in Shannon. Nolan and his brother Cian are dance choreographers for all Ceol Chiarrai productions. In January 2009, he was chosen as the Irish judge for the American dance show, ''

Superstars of Dance ''Superstars of Dance'' is an American reality television series that aired on NBC from January 4 to 26, 2009. The series features dance routines from eight countries from six continents. It was hosted by Michael Flatley, co-creator of ''Riverdanc ...

''.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nolan, Daire 1968 births 20th-century Irish people 21st-century Irish people Living people Performers of Irish dance Irish male dancers People from Limerick (city)