[citation needed] Steel started his career in the arts in the early 1960s as general manager of the London Mozart Players.
[1] In 1986 he was appointed interim co-director of Australian Dance Theatre in Adelaide, along with Dutch choreographer Lenny Westerdijk.
For the following decade he was engaged in projects for, among others, the Hong Kong Arts Development Council, the South Australian and Tasmanian governments, and the Sydney Opera House Trust.
For the rest of that year he acted as a consultant to the resultant Elder School of Music for its capital works program.
[6] He was engaged in projects on behalf of the Confederation of Australian International Arts Festivals and Leigh Warren & Dancers.