Tate McRae is bringing dancing back to pop

Before Tate McRae was a pop sensation, she was a darling of the dance world. 

McRae began her training at a young age, learning multiple styles at the dance company her mother owned in Calgary. Eventually she was winning competitions in New York City, competing on the American reality TV show So You Think You Can Dance and even dancing onstage with Justin Bieber.

Music started to blow up for McRae in 2017, when she uploaded videos of her singing original songs that went viral on YouTube. She was signed to RCA Records in 2019 and released her debut EP, All the Things I Never Said, in 2020. Since then, the 17-time Juno-nominated performer, with five nods this year, has gone on to rack up more than 10 platinum singles, release two studio albums and cement herself as a powerful force in pop music. 

But she didn't leave dance behind: from her live shows to her most memorable music videos, McRae is devoted to serving a sickening eight-count. She's been compared to Britney Spears in that regard, and was even interviewed by the pop icon last year. While Billie Eilish and Olivia Rodrigo have brought along the rise of a more subdued kind of pop star, McRae's penchant for spectacle and intricate choreography is more akin to the pop divas of the '90s and 2000s.

"I've always dreamed of being able to sing and dance onstage like Britney Spears. I just want to make that a reality, to dance with a whole bunch of dancers and put on a huge show," she told Hunger Magazine in 2021 before the release of her debut album, I Used to Think I Could Fly, in 2022. 

On the eve of the release of her third album, So Close to What, CBC Music decided to take a look back at McRae's best dance moments so far. 

5.  'She's All I Wanna Be'

The moment to watch for: 2:05 to 3:00.

No stranger to the heated pressure of dance competitions, McRae brings a bit of that high-intensity rivalry to the "She's All I Wanna Be" music video. A chorus line of dancers vie for the top spot, performing while three judges pick apart every little detail. The combination jazz-contemporary style is a nod to the singer's earliest days as a dancer. In the end, it's McRae against the girl that has "everything that I don't have," and they both give it their all until they fall to the ground exhausted. The choreography was created by Jason Parsons, an instructor at the Broadway Dance Center, who has danced for Céline Dion and SWV. 

4. '10:35,' Tiesto feat. Tate McRae

The moment to watch for: 0:27 to 0:42.

There's a lot of choreo throughout this high-energy EDM collab between McRae and Tiesto, but the real standout is when she dances alone, on top of a water fountain. It's a blink-and-you'll-miss-it moment in a video that has a lot going on. The choreographer, Noelle Marsh, (another So You Think You Can Dance alum) really took advantage of McRae's professional dance background: the isolations are so slick, her movements so fluid, it's absolutely mesmerizing. It's the same modern dance flare that helped McRae get third place on Season 13 of So You Think You Can Dance in 2016. She taps even more into this style in the "Feel Like Shit" video. 

3. 'It's OK I'm OK'

The moment to watch for: 1:45 to 2:15.

McRae really got into her groove when she teamed up with Sean Bankhead. The celebrated choreographer has worked with Britney Spears, Missy Elliott, FKA Twigs, Normani, Victoria Monet, Megan Thee Stallion and many more. "It's OK I'm OK" was the third time Bankhead choreographed one of McRae's videos, and the blend of hip-hop and contemporary dance styles is a coming together of both their worlds. In a masterclass following the release of the video, Bankhead told McRae that "ever since we got together we've just been able to really create some great, magic moments with dance." One such moment is the night scene in the "It's OK I'm OK" video, where McRae and her backup dancers are hitting the slickest moves, tossing yesterday's news aside. As she repeats the line, "You can have him anyway," it's clear she's beyond done with whatever man was bringing headaches into her life.

2. 'Exes'

The moment to watch for: 1:57 to 2:25.

Another Bankhead production, "Exes" has a dance sequence set inside a boxing ring, perhaps a nod to Christina Aguilera's "Dirrty" music video. It's cheeky and sexy but still maintains a bit of grit as McRae says "sorry not sorry" to the exes from her past. One of the most notable elements of her dance breaks is that McRae is always going just as hard as the backup dancers. Where most artists will do a modified version of the choreography, McRae's lines are just as clean, her splits just as deep.

1. 'Greedy'

The moment to watch for: 0:25 to 0:47.

"Greedy" was many listeners' first introduction to McRae, and what an introduction it was. The song itself went six-times platinum thanks to an infectious chorus and a nostalgic sample of "Promiscuous" by Nelly Furtado, but it was this music video, and most importantly the choreography, that began the Britney Spears comparisons in the first place. "Greedy" was McRae's first time working with Bankhead, and he didn't make it easy on her. With some of the fastest and most intricate movements we've seen from the performer, "Greedy" showcases all of McRae's dance skills. From solo dance moments that show off her ballet training to group hip-hop dance breaks, she's giving 110 per cent. Clad in athletic shorts, a leather bra, a quarter of a T-shirt and a goalie's glove, she leaves it all on the locker room floor.