By MIKE BOYLE

If God, as the old joke goes, created liquor so the Irish wouldn’t rule the world, then He must have created Irish music and dance to make us happy. And happy we were. A sold out crowd Thursday night at the Pikes Peak Center tapped their feet and clapped their hands as Michael Flatley and his troupe performed their “Lord of the Dance.”

At other times, we laughed. We even booed as a “villain” attempted to wrest Michael’s dancing title in one of the well-choreographed and costumed skits, and then cheered wildly as our hero triumphed.

And if happiness wasn’t enough, we were energized. This almost two hour performance is like watching an aerobics class on steroids. If you are going to dance with Michael Flatley, you better be in shape. In a show that never slows, let alone stops, everybody seems to have a cardio vascular system that Lance Armstrong and Michael Phelps would die for. This show, and the cast that performs it, makes a run up the Manitou Incline look like a stroll in the park.

There was something for everybody. We chuckled when the male members of the cast came out and performed in hot pink jump suits, and we gasped when the females tore away their traditional Irish dresses and danced in sports bras and Spandex.

I’ll admit it: I’m not a guy with the highest culture quotient you’ll ever meet. I first thought “Dances with Wolves” was a musical. But I have seen “Spirit of the Dance,” and I have seen “Riverdance.” They were both good. But Michael Flatley and the cast of “Lord of the Dance” were exceptional. He truly is the Lord, the King, of the Dance. And if you want to see this show the next time it comes to the Springs, you’d better get your tickets early because those in attendance last Thursday will certainly be back for more.

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