Steven McRae and Vasko Vassilev in rehearsal for their upcoming personal project in the Linbury Theatre
Max Miechowski
‘What’s that saying, life imitating art?’ ponders Steven McRae. It’s a fitting phrase: the Royal Ballet principal dancer stands in the Covent Garden studio, daylight flooding in like a spotlight as a costumer pins into place his old Hollywood, tailcoat-style costume. (The press release, I note, describes the dancer as a modern-day Fred Astaire, a compliment at which McRae is bashful.)
Rehearsals are in full swing for The McRae / Vassilev Project, a self-titled collaboration between this principal and his long-time friend Vasko Vassilev, a masterful wielder of the violin and the Royal Opera House’s principal guest concert master, who are together bringing an interpretation of their own artistic journeys to the Linbury Theatre.
‘I think it felt a little bit odd at first, to think we’re going to bring parts of our life story to stage,’ says McRae. ‘But if you look at a lot of traditional art around the world, real life is the motivation. Whether that’s Tracey Emin with her bedroom or whoever it is in the world who’s doing things.’ The first half is indeed autobiographically inspired, taking cues from each artist’s journey to the here and now; the latter is an ode to Niccolò Paganini, the 19th-century violinist regarded as the world’s first virtuoso.
‘They say he’s sort of an early-day rock star,’ McRae explains. ‘He made his music relevant and cool for people, made it accessible. As someone who didn’t grow up in this environment, I’ve always tried, the last 20-odd years I’ve been here at Royal Ballet, to say to people, “Come, come. It’s for you. It’s for everybody. You don’t have to know anything about it. Just come and experience it. You might be surprised.” So I think there’s a natural appeal of what Paganini’s mission was back then to what Vasko and I are doing.’
Steven McRae’s artistic journey to the Royal Ballet is certainly ripe for adaptation. An alumnus of the Royal Ballet School, which this year celebrates its centenary, McRae was awarded a scholarship at the age of 17 and whisked away from home in Australia overnight. ‘I went from Sunday night competing at the Prix de Lausanne in Switzerland to Monday morning at the Royal Ballet School. It transformed my life.’