Stephen Galloway on turning movement into magic

In any creative process, there’s a search for that magical moment when you hit the mark. And in any creative process, the stage can be perfectly set – so to speak – yet that special moment never comes. Which is why today’s most sought-after creatives – whether working on a photo shoot, music video, TV commercial or the catwalk of a fashion show – rely on Stephen Galloway as a guarantee to bring the magic. Using the roll of a shoulder, the twist of a head, the exact placement of an arch of a foot, Galloway – featured in our Wallpaper* USA 300 – has pioneered a unique profession as a creative movement director.

Stephen Galloway on making movement magical

‘I try to capture magic, you know, that’s all I try to do,’ says Galloway of his work rooted in two decades of experience as the principal dancer for Germany’s Ballet Frankfurt. Not only does his role in the creative process involve choreographing the physicality of a composition, but he also uses movement to fuel the moment with magical energy. 

The ‘dance like nobody is watching’ in Miley Cyrus’ music video for Flowers – the one that went viral and inspired a million memes – that was Galloway. ‘You’re trying to create and sustain magic just long enough to capture it,’ he says. ‘When it works, it speaks for itself.’ 

Early in their career, the internationally renowned fashion photography duo Inez van Lamsweerde and Vinoodh Matadin met Galloway and attended many of his ballet performances. When they landed a fashion campaign for Calvin Klein, they invited Galloway (still a principal dancer) into their studio to consult on framing the model’s body. Some 23 years later, their collaborations continue. ‘We only need a few words between us now,’ say Inez & Vinoodh, describing the intuitive shorthand they have developed over the years, ‘and Stephen translates it into movement’.  

Inez & Vinoodh describe Galloway’s presence on set as a source of exuberance, gregariousness and joy, but point out that, equally as important, ‘he brings out an elegance and creativity that most of our subjects didn’t even know they possessed’.

Although Galloway sees his work as an extension of the direction taken by artists such as Jean-Paul Goude and Robert Wilson, he has found – and continues to find – unending applications for his talent. He has designed costumes for several ballet companies, worked as an art director for fashion house Issey Miyake, and served as choreographer on multiple Rolling Stones tours. ‘Mick is like the rock star version of Rudolf Nureyev,’ says Galloway, likening the living music legend to the late ballet legend.

‘They both possess that power to change the air in a room through their physicality.’ He says Jagger is a huge dance fan, who, at their first meeting, wanted Galloway to teach him new steps. ‘But I was like, you’ve already created your own version of dance in terms of your physical vocabulary. We don’t need to do anything but make you more like yourself,’ recalls Galloway. ‘So, I set up a series of movements that I felt were, essentially, Jagger doing Jagger. I took what was already Mick and turned the volume up 150 per cent.’

Raised in Erie, Pennsylvania, by his mother, Galloway was studying copies of Vogue by the sixth grade. At age ten, he discovered dance at a local cultural centre. He immediately connected with the expressive physicality of the medium and embraced the discipline required for classical ballet training. Opportunities to see performances by the New York City Ballet and Merce Cunningham ignited his passion further.  

By the age of 17, Galloway was an accomplished dancer. With the help of a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts, he travelled to Europe and auditioned at the Ballet Frankfurt, where he was accepted under the mentorship of the company’s new director, William Forsythe, an American who would become one of the most influential figures in modern ballet of the past four decades. As principal dancer, Galloway developed a sinuous, spontaneous style that became his signature.

After more than 30 years based in Frankfurt, Galloway moved permanently to LA in 2018. Apart from his beloved Aunt Melba, who sadly passed just after his arrival, Galloway had no real reason to make the move except the desire for change.

‘I took an apartment in 2016, but was going back and forth, doing the Europe-LA thing,’ he recalls. ‘But then I realised LA was pulling me, saying, you need to be here.’ Galloway believes the expansive landscape of the city and its accompanying solitude give him both physical and mental space to create. ‘You can have a very public lifestyle here if you choose. But there’s also a loneliness about LA that allows you those “in-between” times. Precious time to do nothing but dream. I feel I can create new dreams here.’

Putting Galloway in the studio with the LA-based fine art photographer Paul Mpagi Sepuya, also featured in the Wallpaper* USA 300, was an inspired move (no pun intended) by this magazine’s US Director Michael Reynolds. Who better to capture Galloway than Sepuya, who is known for using his photography studio like a canvas for his works of art. His highly sought-after images are often the result of him positioning his camera and tripod in front of a mirror, depicting himself, and sometimes incorporating another body (usually a friend, lover, peer), creating a powerfully emotive physical and aesthetic entanglement.  

‘I’m very much the opposite of performative in my gestures in the studio,
so the energy that Stephen brought was electric,’ says Sepuya. ‘He commanded the space with his movement and spontaneous choreography in response to the set-up of my studio,’ he adds. ‘We gossiped, talked about art and work, fashion, and teaching. I think the photographs demonstrate the ease of connection and the joy of it all.’ Once again, bring in Galloway, magic guaranteed.   

@stephengalloway 

paulsepuya.com

This article appears in the August 2023 ‘Made in America’ issue of Wallpaper*, available in print, on the Wallpaper* app on Apple iOS, and to subscribers of Apple News +. Subscribe to Wallpaper* today