The school of life: The 25 years that Galloway spent with Forsythe at Ballet Frankfurt opened new opportunities beyond dancing. As his mentor, Forsythe recognized that Galloway knew the necessary costume design for dancers to move comfortably on stage. At his request Galloway began designing the costumes for a four-person piece that soon “ballooned into a full-length ballet with three acts and 260 costumes.”
Galloway’s proclivity towards fashion was apparent from childhood. He staged fashion shows in his grandfather’s backyard, drew inspiration from his grandmothers and great-grandmothers who were seamstresses, and delved into the always healthy supply of Vogue or Harper’s Bazaar in his home. This love of fashion manifested in the costumes he designed for the Kirov Ballet, American Ballet Theatre, Paris Opera Ballet, La Scala, and Ballet Frankfurt, where he earned the title Head Costume Designer and Style Coordinator in 2000.
From costumes to couture: Soon it wasn’t only ballet companies that wanted to capitalize on Galloway’s talents. He worked with Gianni Versace, Yves Saint Laurent, Gucci, and Costume National to collaborate on costumes, oversee runway productions, or serve as creative director, as he did for Issey Miyake from 1993–1997. During this time he was still dancing and designing costumes for Ballet Frankfurt.
As Galloway’s lives in dance and fashion blended together he was recommended to The Rolling Stones by a mutual friend to help choreograph some steps for Mick Jagger. This arrangement transformed into Galloway touring with the Stones for more than a decade as their Creative Movement Director, a position he affectionately dubbed “lips and hips for Mick Jagger.” His role was to supercharge Jagger’s essence on stage by providing him with a catalogue of steps to pull from while performing.
See his work: Boston Ballet collaborated with Stephen Galloway for the video “MOVE BEYOND THE ORDINARY” in advance of his WORLD PREMIERE in March 2022. The Peter Lindbergh-style video draws from his vast talents as choreographer, creative director, and costume designer to transform dancers Derek Dunn, Seo Hye Han, Viktorina Kapitonova, Chyrstyn Fentroy and Daniel Durrett into fashion muses.
