Steven McRae (born 19 December 1985) is an Australian ballet dancer and tap dancer. He is a principal dancer with the Royal Ballet, London. Early life Steven McRae was raised in the Sydney suburb of Plumpton the son of a drag racer. He started dancing at age seven, after watching his older sister in her dance classes. He studied tap as well as ballet. He was soon being entered for the performing-arts competitions in Australia known as eisteddfods, often gracing 25 sections at a time. By his teens, already an extremely capable tapper, Steven McRae knew that his future lay in dance, and trained throughout high school. In 2002, at age 16, he won the gold medal at the 2002 Genée held in Sydney that year. In 2003, at age 17, he won the Prix de Lausanne in Switzerland, earning a scholarship, and entered the Royal Ballet School in London. Career 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. The Guardian has called McRae "a modern-day Fred Astaire". In 2014, he was named "Young Australian Achiever of the Year in the UK" for his work with the Royal Ballet. First principal role In 2005, in his first season with the Royal Ballet, McRae jumped on the occasion to dance Symphonic Variations by Frederick Ashton, which is an iconic piece of the Royal Ballet. Symphonic Variations was Ashton's first work after World War II, and one of the Company's first to be performed on the huge main stage of the Royal Opera House. On stage In 2011, McRae originated the role of the Mad Hatter in Christopher Wheeldon's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland at the Royal Opera House. In 2014, he originated the role of Prince Florizel in Christopher Wheeldon's new full-length ballet The Winter's Tale. In 2016, McRae originated the role of "The Creature" in Liam Scarlett's full-length ballet of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein. "There is a moment before Steven McRae steps on stage that you easily can mistake for nerves and he has learnt over the years that it's not nerves, it's adrenaline and a slight sense of anxiety. It's almost impossible to dance as a soloist without this performance element." He is frequently used in works from Royal Ballet choreographer Wayne McGregor such as Chroma, Multiverse, and Limen as he is