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. 

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McRae was born in Sydney and trained with Hilary Kaplan and at The Royal Ballet School. He won the 2002 Adeline Genée Gold Medal and the 2003 Prix de Lausanne. His roles with The Royal Ballet include all the classical repertory and leading roles in works by choreographers including Frederick Ashton, George Balanchine, David Bintley, William Forsythe, Kenneth MacMillan, Alastair Marriott, Wayne McGregor, Liam Scarlett and Christopher Wheeldon. His role creations include Magician/Mad Hatter (Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland), Jack (Sweet Violets), Sandman (Hansel and Gretel), Florizel (The Winter’s Tale), Emble (The Age of Anxiety), Creature (Frankenstein) and roles in Three Songs – Two Voices, Children of Adam, Chroma, Acis and Galatea (Royal Opera), 24 Preludes, The Human Seasons, Tetractys, Connectome, Woolf Works, Multiverse, The Illustrated Farewell, Yugen and concerto pour deux. 

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McRae has performed as a guest artist with companies including American Ballet Theatre, National Ballet of Canada, Australian Ballet, Tokyo Ballet and at numerous international galas. His awards include the 2006 Emerging Male Artist (Classical) and the 2011 Best Male Dancer awards at the Critics’ Circle National Dance Awards. In 2014 he was named Young Australian Achiever in the UK by the Australia Day Foundation. 

Wayne Sleep won a scholarship to the Royal Ballet School in 1961 and joined the Royal Ballet Company in 1966. He became a Senior Principal with numerous roles created for him by Ashton, MacMillan, de Valois and Nureyev. He was a Guest Artist at the English National Ballet, London City Ballet, Scottish Ballet, Cape Town City Ballet and London Contemporary Dance.

As an actor he has played principal parts in THE SERVANT OF TWO MASTERS, SHE STOOPS TO CONQUER, ARSENIC & OLD LACE, and in SHAKESPEARE performed in Midsummer nights dream and Twelfth Night.

 

His films include: THE GREAT TRAIN ROBBERY, THE TALES OF BEATRIX POTTER, THE VIRGIN SOLDIERS and for the BBC THE SOLDIER’S TALE.

 

In musicals he starred in CATS, CHITTY CHITTY BANG BANG, HIGH SOCIETY, CABARET, THE POINT, and worked with Andrew Lloyd Webber who adapted his Variations for SONG AND DANCE.

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He has topped the bill in more than 21 pantomimes.

As a choreographer he created, directed and appeared in a revue DASH which for the first time incorporated all dance genres (including ballet, jazz, tap and contemporary), which after many London seasons and a world tour culminated in the HOT SHOE SHOW, which ran for two series.

 

Wayne has been the subject of THIS IS YOUR LIFE, THE SOUTH BANK SHOW, appeared on THE ROYAL VARIETY SHOW several times, BIG BALLET, more recently THE REAL MARIGOLD HOTEL, BBC RADIO 2’s FRIDAY NIGHT IS MUSIC NIGHT and has also been a guest on numerous chat shows.

 

Appointed OBE in 1998, he received honorary degrees from the Universities of Exeter, Teeside and Plymouth, and is a recipient of the Carl Alan Award. He has two entries in the Guinness Book of Records and was Show Business Personality of the year in 1984 from the Royal Variety Club of Great Britain. He is a Patron of the British Ballet Organisation and Vice-President of the Royal Academy of Dance.

 

His charity, The Wayne Sleep Foundation, helps students who have successfully gained a place at a performing arts vocational college. He continues to pass on his knowledge through private tuition and workshops for all ages.