Renowned choreographer, director and #DisabilityPower100 winner Marc Brew is redefining the boundaries of what it means to be a dancer by bringing his story to stages across the world. He speaks exclusively to Kate Stevenson
For Marc, dance has always been about more than moving his body; for him, it’s been a lifeline.
His love affair with dance began when he was a young boy. He trained as a professional dancer at the Victorian College of the Arts Secondary School and The Australian Ballet School. At just 20, he was offered a job with PACT Ballet in South Africa. It was a dream come true: “I’d always been fascinated by South Africa,” explains Marc. “After reading The Power of One, I wanted to go there. It was the perfect opportunity.”
THE FIRST ACT
But one ill-fated Saturday, Marc’s burgeoning career as a rising ballet star took an unexpected turn. Marc was heading to a game reserve to go bushwalking when a drunk driver struck his car. The accident claimed the lives of his friends – Joanne, Simon and Toby – and left Marc paralysed from the chest down.
“My life changed in a split second. I remember feeling a huge impact, and then it was like I’d been to a concert because my ears were ringing,” recalls Marc. “Everything just froze, and I felt like I couldn’t move.” Marc recalls seeing his three friends not moving. “And then I must’ve lost consciousness, because I woke up again outside the car surrounded by people. I kept saying, ‘don’t worry about me, worry about the others’.”
The next time Marc woke up, he was in hospital with his mum by his side. He’d suffered massive internal injuries and his spinal cord had been damaged at C6 and C7. “The doctor came in and told me I was never going to walk again, and everything changed.”
THE SECOND ACT
Marc had thought he was “invincible” in his early twenties but, in an instant, the accident turned his world upside down. The next few months were undeniably difficult as he rediscovered life as a disabled person. “I felt immense survivor’s guilt,” he adds. “But I knew I had to live my life fully – not just for myself, but for them.”
Yet returning to dance was not immediate, or easy. “I was told I could no longer be a dancer – that there was no place for a disabled dancer,” he shares. But, through experimentation and persistence, he began creating and performing again. “I stopped focusing on how it looked and instead concentrated on how it felt,” Marc explains. “Dance became about the sensation, not the image or achieving perfect lines.”
In his critically acclaimed work, an Accident / a Life, Marc revisits the crash. “Even now, some moments catch me off guard,” he admits. “But performing it honours those I lost and keeps their memory alive.”
Each performance is a testament to the transportive power of art. “Dance is not just about moving your body,” reveals Marc. “It’s about moving our hearts and minds.”
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