Steven McRae performs Czárdás during World Ballet Day 2015 (The Royal Ballet)

Principal of The Royal Ballet Steven McRae performs his tap solo Czárdás with violinist Vasko Vassilev as part of World Ballet Day 2015. Find out more at http://www.roh.org.uk

Australian dancer Steven McRae is a Principal of The Royal Ballet. He joined The Royal Ballet School on a Prix de Lausanne scholarship in 2003. He graduated into The Royal Ballet in 2004 and was promoted to First Artist in 2005, Soloist in 2006, First Soloist in 2008 and Principal in 2009. His classical and dramatic roles with the Company include Romeo, Des Grieux (Manon), Prince Siegfried (Swan Lake), Prince Florimund (The Sleeping Beauty), Prince (The Nutcracker and Cinderella), the Chosen One (The Rite of Spring) and Colas (La Fille mal gardée). McRae has created roles for Kim Brandstrup, Alastair Marriott, Wayne McGregor, Alexei Ratmansky, Liam Scarlett and Christopher Wheeldon, among others.

McRae was born and raised in Sydney. His father was a drag racer and McRae shares his passion for motor racing. He began dancing at the age of seven after becoming interested in his older sister’s dance classes. McRae performs tap alongside ballet, a dual ability he displayed in his Prix de Lausanne entry and often used by choreographers in new roles created on McRae, such as the Mad Hatter in Wheeldon’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland.

Prizes include the 2002 Adeline Genée Gold Medal, the 2003 Prix de Lausanne, the 2007 Emerging Male Artist (Classical) and the 2012 Best Male Dancer Awards at the Critics’ Circle Dance Awards, and in 2014 he was named Young Australian Achiever in the UK by the Australia Day Foundation. He has performed as a guest artist with ballet companies all over the world, including American Ballet Theater (as part of a dance exchange programme), National Ballet of Canada, the Australian Ballet, Tokyo Ballet and numerous international galas.