Steven McRae In Conversation

Steven McRae ‘In Conversation’ with Gerald Dowler

April 14th, 2025

Susan Dalgetty-Ezra, chair of the London Ballet Circle, welcomed the large audience both in-person and on Zoom. The evening was all about Steven McRae, a remarkable dancer and even more remarkable person. Susan warmly welcomed him, saying that really he needed no further introduction. Born in Australia, Steven trained in Sydney before being accepted into the Royal Ballet School (RBS) on a Prix de Lausanne scholarship. He graduated into the Royal Ballet (RB) in 2004, rising swiftly to the rank of Principal in 2009. Susan also welcomed writer and critic Gerald Dowler who would lead the conversation.

Gerald said that he was delighted to be talking with Steven, being of such an age that he remembers his first performances with the RB. But he wanted to start with Steven’s most recent venture; the film in which he recounts his journey back to fitness following the snapping of an Achilles tendon.

Steven explained that he had been in touch with the film’s director for some years, thinking over ways to present dance on film. He had suffered considerable leg pain for about a year, but his surgeon had told him there was a relatively low chance that the tendon would actually rupture. And then, during a performance of Manon, the accident happened and – suddenly – there was the story! Filming was in some ways a risky venture, because the ending remained unknown. When it began there was absolutely no certainty that Steven would ever be able to dance again.

He was asked about the experience of filming, over 300 hours of film having been shot, including times when he was most vulnerable. Steven had actually found it a cathartic experience; the presence of the camera afforded him something of a ‘safe space’ in which he could express all his emotions, almost like having a therapist there with him.

This, of course, was not the first time he had experienced a major injury. His other Achilles tendon had snapped some years back, not long after he had joined the RB. In his first years with the company he had been given the opportunity to perform a wide range of roles – some well, some possibly with a few mistakes – for which he was enormously grateful. That’s the beauty of doing it while young. His body, however, had not yet been ready for such an active work programme, and this had probably contributed to the incident.

Recovery then had taken about a year, a year in which he did not dance, which was terrifying. A young man, just at the start of his career, he was hungry to dance, to show what he could do. The surgeon to whom he was referred had not operated to repair the tear; instead he had prescribed various exercises and protocols which, sensibly, Steven had followed to the letter. Nevertheless, the situation forced him to grow up very quickly. It was also fortunate in that it introduced him to Lesley Collier, who went on to coach him throughout his career. There was also the bigger picture. Terrified that the prospect of a career actively dancing might slip away from him, he explored other possibilities such as a business degree. And he was away from home, and homesick.

So let’s talk about home, and your journey from the other side of the world into the RB, said Gerald. Steven explained that his family had no connections with dance or the theatre. His father was very involved in motor sport, in drag racing, and Steven had spent many hours at the trackside. He described himself as a shy child, often hiding away, but when he had expressed an interest in dance his parents had willingly sought out a local dance school.

Classes were held in disused classrooms in the grounds of an old school, ballet and jazz in one room and tap in the adjoining, rather rougher, classroom. While learning ballet and jazz he would occasionally sneak into the tap studio, just to look. And the teacher would ask whether he wanted to try it but he always felt intimidated by the thought. It was his sister, some seven years older but also dancing, who precipitated the situation by saying that they should have a tap lesson together – which they did, but whereas she soon dropped out Steven developed a love for tap and has danced it ever since. In fact, for the last ten years he has curated a summer programme of opera and dance in Denmark. Originally started by Johan Kobborg, and held outdoors, it includes all manner of dance including tap.

Fortuitously, said Steven, the school turned out to have some of the best teachers in the country, including Glen Wood, his tap teacher, and Hilary Kaplan herself. Overall, he had been provided with an excellent introduction to dance, for which he was enormously grateful.

In 2002 Steven had completed the Royal Academy of Dance examinations and had entered the Fonteyn International Ballet Competition, in which he had been awarded the Adeline Genée Gold Medal, all at ‘home’ in Sydney. The prize had paid for a flight to Switzerland to enter the Prix de Lausanne. It all happened so quickly; he had won the Gold Medal in December and the very next month was at the Prix. Fortunately the family was able to purchase another ticket enabling his mother to accompany him to Europe. Neither had been to Europe before; they flew to Zurich without realising that the airport at Geneva was so much closer to Lausanne….

The Prix was great but took him way out of his comfort zone. All the interactions were in French, and he understood only when his name was called. At one point he had suddenly broken off from class to go to the window and see the snow! The pressure of the trip had not been easy for his mother and she had eventually required attention in hospital, thus missing his performance in the semi-final. Nevertheless, he won the Prix, with the prize being a scholarship to a major ballet school.

One of the Prix panel members had been Gailene Stock, at that time Director of the RBS, and she offered a place at what was the most prestigious ballet school. She had suggested that rather than transferring at Heathrow from the incoming Swiss flight to one to Australia – as had been Steven and his mother’s plan – they should stop off in London. His mother was able to change her ticket and catch her flight home the following day, leaving Steven, at 17, alone in London, with essentially just the clothes he stood up in. Wolf House, the accommodation for RBS students, was already full and so he was found a hostel in Hampstead, a place full of strangers.

The next day he started at the RBS, in the 2nd year, and was immediately told that dancers in his year would be working with the company in a production of The Sleeping Beauty on the Opera House stage… As indeed he did, standing still and holding a tray of drinks in the hunt scene.

Steven related an incident which demonstrated his then limited knowledge of the world of ballet. During an early rehearsal for this production he heard that ‘Darcy’ would be coming in to coach the Rose Adage. He knew vaguely of the existence of Darcy Bussell, having some years before seen a videotape of a gala in which she had danced – recorded for him from the television late one night by his father. The Rose Adage, however…..what on earth was that? ‘And obviously all those students who had been through White Lodge looked at me, thinking ‘who is this alien?’ When he saw it he was captivated by it, but the fact that it had previously been unknown to him reflected the somewhat limited exposure to the wider world of ballet possible within his school in Australia.

In an aside Steven said that same videotape had included the Act 3 pas de deux from Manon. Danced by Sylvie Guillem and Jonathan Cope, the 14-year-old Steven had been spellbound, watching it many times over and next day telling Hilary Kaplan, his teacher, that he had to dance it! In fact, his first appearance in Manon had been after just two months at the RBS. Sylvie was indeed in the leading role, and he had played the part of a student beggar. A year on, as a company member, he had played a dancing beggar, and then later the beggar chief. In his early years in the company he used to hound Monica, to insist that he must dance the pas de deux, which in due course he did – as a last-minute cast change, with Leanne Benjamin as the eponymous heroine.

Steven then returned to the theme of homesickness. Australia and family seemed so far away, and he reckoned it was a full three years before he felt completely at home in England. The first thing he would see when he woke each morning would be his suitcase, and he would muse that he could just take it and steal away to Heathrow, on to a flight and back to home. Surely nobody would be angry! But in truth he knew that he had to go on, to prove himself in an enormously competitive world. Steven later admitted that his mother had never got over the trauma of losing her son to the other side of the world; he suspected that she would love to hear that he was ‘coming home’!

How much did music influence him and his motivation, he was asked. There’s no clear answer to that, Steven responded. The thrill of dancing is the only motivation he requires; he loves it and that was what got him up every morning. As for music, his tastes were eclectic, ranging from Sinatra, through The Killers, to the Nutcracker pas de deux (NOT the Sugar Plum solo, he said…..).

Had he ever doubted his commitment to dance? At no time, he replied, but there is another essential aspect to it. It is his job. As an artist, which he undoubtedly is, it is sometimes uncomfortable to refer to one’s art as a ‘job’. Nevertheless, that is the reality; it is this job which supports him and his family, wife Elizabeth (Harrod, fellow RB dancer) and their three children. And family life is so important to him. He recalled times when the children might want him to go and play with them in, say, Richmond Park, and having regretfully to tell them that he couldn’t because he needed to conserve himself for a forthcoming show. They were getting older now and understood more about his commitments; for instance, they had just watched with delight from the wings as he danced Romeo.

Steven was asked about his hopes for a company contract when in his pre-professional year at the RBS. As he had been so homesick, was he considering trying for the Australian Ballet? No, he said, graduating students made lists of the ballet companies which they wanted to consider. Gailene, however, had insisted that his list consisted of just two names – the Royal Ballet and the American Ballet Theatre. Steven considers himself stubborn. He had met the challenge of leaving Australia and knew he was in a good place where he was; already he had been to places and seen things that previous generations of his family back home would never have seen. So not Australia!

Securing a company contract, however, was not easy; they were limited in number, with directors often looking for particular characteristics in a dancer. It was unsettling; timing was everything. Steven said that Dame Monica Mason had been the key. While still in his final year he with other students was sent to understudy the corps de ballet in Les Noces, a ballet with Stravinsky music, full of difficult rhythms. And because it had to fit in with other school activities they weren’t at every rehearsal and so he didn’t know it well. At 4pm one afternoon scheduler Philip Mosely appeared asking for him, saying that Paul Kay was ill and that Steven would have to take his role. Curtain up at 7.30, although fortunately Les Noces was the final piece on the evening’s programme! It was just a day or two after that he was told he had been offered a contract. However, Paul was still unwell and so Steven had to dance the role once again – this time he thinks he made a mess of it, and the contract had not yet been signed!

Steven was asked if he saw himself as any particular type of dancer, to which he replied that he was still searching. After trying something new he might think ‘oh, I never saw myself doing that’. As a relatively small dancer he wanted to be quick, he enjoyed being explosive in his actions. Under Dame Monica Mason’s reign there had been many additions to the repertoire, and he appreciated the opportunity to evolve and explore different roles. It was too easy to get pigeon-holed. His great friend, Frederico Bonelli had urged him to look for the ‘in between’ elements of a role. And Monica had taught him that simply being still can add so much to the interpretation of a character.

Did he have special roles? Steven immediately cited his first Romeo, partnered with Alina Cojocaru as Juliet. They had just five days to get it together and he had gone to the studio on a Sunday, by himself, when all would be quiet, to get on terms with the role. And who should appear but Monica; with the true instinct of a good Director she had realised that Steven would do just this and wanted to be there to support and help him. Wonderful!

He spoke with delight that, in his second season, Christopher Wheeldon had created the Spirit of Fire on him in Homage to the Queen. Les Lutins, a trio with Alina Cojocaru and Sergei Polunin, choreographed some years ago by Johan Kobborg, danced all over the world including on the Bolshoi stage. There was Chroma, and a darker role in Children of Adam. Mayerling, coached in this instance by Leanne Benjamin, who would not let him get away with anything. The Winter’s Tale, with Sarah Lamb. And of course, the ’fun stuff’ in Wheeldon’s ballets.

How much are you like an Olympic athlete, he was asked. Dancers are physically and mentally elite athletes, who must be at their peak for every performance whereas a sports person may train in cycles to try to ensure peak fitness at competition time. The strain on the dancer’s body is there all the time. He paid tribute to the Mason Healthcare Suite, the excellent facilities at the Opera House, and to the team at the Fortius Clinic in London. Surgeons at the Fortius specialise in trauma sustained through sports and related injuries and treat all manner of elite athletes, in parallel with which they are both extremely interested and experienced in learning about and treating dance injuries. Injuries are part of every dancer’s journey.

Steven was asked about retiring from dancing. It’s inevitable, he responded, I can’t be dancing Rhapsody when I’m 70. But clearly he is not ready to stop yet. It was, he said, so wonderful to be a part of it – the joy, for instance, of opening nights. That must go on for a while yet. And then perhaps as a coach one can go into the studio and pass on the elements of what you love; it must come from those artists who have actually experienced both the highs and lows. That’s in the mentality of a dancer; you want to say things like ‘this didn’t work so well for me, but it might work better for you’.

And finally – what of the audience? The general public? They are everything, replied Steven. It’s why you do it. The artform must flourish; companies must continue to provide audiences with great shows. He would like to believe that at least one person in every audience will be touched by the performance and recalled a young girl waiting at the stage door after a show. Which bit did you most enjoy, she was asked, replying joyously ‘All of it!’ That counts as job done, said Steven.

In concluding the evening, Susan, chair of the London Ballet Circle, responded enthusiastically that it had been yet another fascinating and insightful discussion. She thanked both Steven and Gerald most sincerely for taking part in a wonderful evening’s conversation.

Trevor Rothwell 16-04-24