Stephen Galloway

Early life

Galloway was born in Erie, Pennsylvania. Growing up, he was part of the neighborhood program ran by Martin Luther King that provided dance and art classes to the local children. Galloway, along with the other boys in the program, was asked to join the dance class that sought more participation from the boys. Despite the lack of previous formal training, his natural talent in dance caught the attention of the instructors and Galloway was subsequently asked to join the most advanced dance class in the program further spiking his interest in dance. He enrolled at the ballet school and graduated high school with a scholarship in the arts.

Ballet Frankfurt

After receiving the grant, Galloway decided to leave America for Europe in hopes of studying under more influential choreographers of the time. He eventually moved to Frankfurt and joined Frankfurt Ballet at the age of 17, just when American choreographer William Forsythe took over. He held his position as a principal dancer for 18 years, from 1986 to 2004, under Forsythe.

Costume design

Galloway's interest in fashion formed early in his childhood. He started reading Vogue in the third grade and asked his mother to get a subscription for Viva magazine. His interests in fashion remained strong through his years at Ballet Frankfurt. William Forsythe was familiar with Galloway's interest in fashion and started assigning Galloway with the task of designing costumes. In 1990, he was appointed as style coordinator and head costume designer. During his tenure as the head costume designer, he received a Bessie Award for best costumes for his work on a dance piece Eidos: Telos which was choreographed by Forsythe. Since his departure from Ballet Frankfurt, Galloway has been working as a freelance costume designer and continues to produce costumes for ballets and operas for institutions such as Kirov Ballet of St. Petersburg, American Ballet Theatre. La Scala, Paris Opera Ballet, and Théâtre du Capitole. In 1993, Galloway was appoint as the creative director of Issey Miyake. He served the position until 1997.

The Rolling Stones and Mick Jagger

Mick Jagger got in touch with Galloway through mutual friends and asked him to join The Rolling Stones tour. Although Galloway was only credited as a choreographer on his backstage pass, he served a fluid and a general role overseeing the aesthetic of the whole tour, giving notes on anything from lighting and clothing to choreography. Soon, Galloway's role spanned over to other areas such as consulting on The Rolling Stones' music videos. Reflecting his multi-faceted contribution to the The Rolling Stones team, Jagger would call Galloway with varying titles such as 'movement consultant', 'stage shaker', and 'the clean-up crew'. To this day, for more than 15 years, Galloway still holds the position with The Rolling Stones.

Fashion

Two of the longstanding collaborators of Galloway are the Dutch fashion photographer duo Inez van Lamsweerde and Vinoodh Matadin. Inez and Vinnodh enlist Galloway as a creative movement consultant for fashion editorials such as Vogue Paris, Vogue and W Magazine, as well as campaigns for the brands such as Gucci, Calvin Klein, and Yves Saint Laurent. On set with Lamsweerde and Matadin, using his expertise in body movements gained during his time as a ballet dancer, Galloway has helped some of the top models including Raquel Zimmerman, Natasha Poly, Jessica Miller, and Christy Turlington. Galloway's work as a creative movement consultant helped to shape unique visual aesthetic in Lamsweerd and Matadin's work, which came to be some of the most iconic images of contemporary fashion photography.

Galloway's insight in fashion was not only appreciated by the photographers but also by the fashion designers themselves. He has been asked to oversee the production of runway shows for many fashion houses, such as Versace, Yves Saint Laurent, and Costume National.