By Cynthia McQueen
The Oshawa Express

Despite having the title The Lord of the Dance, Jason Gorman is a humble man. At 24, Gorman is the Lord of the Dance but doesn’t want to try out for “So You Think You Can Dance?” despite his students’ many requests. The California native said,“The purpose of that show is to give dancers that haven’t had the opportunity to have that exposure– and to give choreographers the chance to win a huge scholarship to advance and develop.

There are so many people that are as good as me if not better that haven’t gotten the exposure.” And exposure is just what Gorman has been given since the age of 16. Gorman has travelled the world with the Lord of the Dance and has spent time in Canada for his first international experience, then Greece, Italy, Chile, all over South America, Denmark, Sweden, Germany, Scotland, Ireland, England, Whales and most of Scandinavia.

While the world-travelled tapper is a wellgrounded stomper he did say, “It takes a lot of practice.” “I think Irish dancing is like a hybrid of a lot of different styles of dance. It’s a cultural thing so it’s borrowed – I think it’s mostly a mixture of ballet and tap.” Gorman, thankfully, has a very diverse dancing background with experience in jazz, tap, ballet, hip-hop and contemporary dance In addition, Gorman has roots in Irish dancing.

“My father’s side of the family is Irish so it’s part of my heritage. My grandparents were one of the main reasons why I got into Irish dancing. They wanted me to learn something that comes from my culture.” With a chuckle, Gorman says traditional Irish dancing is very intense.

The dance is intense indeed if you are the original Lord of the Dance Michael Flately. Flately’s fine tuned tapping machine feet have been clocked as the world’s fastest - he can tap 35 taps per second Gorman says he’s never clocked his own feet, but has seen Flatley at work.

“I’ve seen him and worked with him personally – we were in rehearsals everyday – I watched him everyday and he astounds me – he’s still so amazing. He’s just a force of nature – he has that dance bug too.”