Happy Sunday everyone, I’ve got a documentary recommendation for you this week, and I’ve bumped it to the top of the list because it was only on TV on Friday night – and so it’s on iPlayer now, and it’s important for arts documentaries to get viewing figures for us to get more of them. And this is a really good one.
Steven McRae is a Principal at the Royal Ballet – and in 2019 his Achilles tendon tore in the middle of a performance, leaving him lying on the stage in agony, thinking his career could be over. Dancing Back to the Light is the story of his rehabilitation and return to the stage in 2021. It’s a long and gruelling process, and as well as following him at work in the dance studio and the gym we also see him at home with his wife, herself a retired ballet dancer with the Royal Ballet, and their three young children.
I read a lot of books about ballet dancers when I was a child (and still re-read them now as an adult to be honest) and often wished that I had learned ballet. This will give you an unflinching portrait of the effort and sacrifice that goes into being at the top of your game in the modern ballet world, and how even the best dancers can have bad habits and be powering their way through in unhealthy ways. McRae is Australian and his childhood teacher always had the ambition for him to go to the Royal Ballet school – which seemed out of reach for a kid from a Sydney suburb on the other side of the world But 17 he flew to Switzerland to participate in the Prix de Lausanne and as he tells us in the documentary he won first prize – and a scholarship to the Royal Ballet. As that Instagram caption for the trailer says; he’s also a fabulous tap dancer – this is his tap solo from that competition:
McRae is very articulate and honest about what’s going on inside his head and how he’s had to rebuild the way that he dances and his every day routine as a result of the injury. He’s a dancer who has been incredibly acclaimed for his talent and dancing style – but it’s such hard work to be as good as he is. There are various jobs that I’ve seen described as being like a swan – serene on the surface but pedaling away madly underwater and ballet seems to be very like that – for the three hours of perfection you see on stage, there is untold dedication behind the scenes as well as whatever pain or injury the dancer might be carrying with them on stage at any given time. I think even if you’re not into ballet it’s worth a watch, because like so many documentaries about sports people it shows someone fighting to get back to the peak of their powers to try and make the most of their talent and passion while they can, but also about listening to your body and taking the time you need to do things properly.
If you’re in the UK, you can watch Steven McRae: Dancing Back to the Light on iPlayer here. It’s been broadcast as part of the Arena strand of documentaries. If you’re not in the UK, this has had a cinema release in France, and I’m sure it will be popping up on streaming platforms at some point.
Verity Reads Books (lots of them) 