By Cassell Ferere originally published on Forbes.com

For a choreographer, dancing is the only form of expression. The movement of the body delivers a message to be interpreted. But similarly, for fashion, the body does the same, the only difference is that it is draped in someone else's art and curated into your style. Non-transferable, dancing and fashion have always made efforts to communicate through one another.  

For dancer Gabe Stone Shayer, fashion and its sometimes fleeting trends have been his closest ally in promoting the fleeting art of dance. Representing a small number of Black men in the Ballet arena, Shayer is a creative director and soloist who brings forth the concept of Black men in Ballet that is something to be seen from the great classical choreographer Alvin Ailey, and those who came after - as well as before. 

Taking a lens at the course of fashion amid dance culture in America, it seemed fitting for Shayer to be dressed by Dapper Dan himself, known for dressing rappers, b-boys, and d-boys, in the early days of hip hop. For the American Ballet Theatre gala, Shayer wore an Indian-inspired housecoat-style in silk, with a honey color tone, named the King Coat by Dapper Dan.

Breaking trends and into popular culture, once again, ballet has been democratized by modern great dancers like Misty Copeland, James B. Whiteside, and Isabella Boylston, all high ranking members of the American Ballet Theatre, founded in 1939. Gabe Stone Shayer is creating a lane for ballet in the mainstream. Fashion and personal style are Shayers' saving grace, especially at a time when the stages of the world were closed amid a global pandemic. 

While the 2016 Data USA numbers for ballerinas favor white women at almost 65.9%, white male ballerinos make up 13.6% of the overall participation. This may leave an enthusiast in dismay, but only 4.45% of dancers happen to be African American males and a mere 2.27% are African American women, showing a great deal of lack of representation.

Challenging enough, what is, or was, trending in ballet is the perception of whiteness as the proverbial “Prince Charming” or the ideal “Black Swan” stereotypes for those traditional roles. Born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in 1993, Shayer grew up to learn dancing early. At 14 he would travel to Russia to join the Bolshoi Ballet Academy in Moscow to train in ballet at the 250-year-old institution. Although his training was strict he would become aware of his ethnicity under the gaze of Russian society. By 2011 he would join the ABT and as of 2020, he has been deemed a soloist with the non-profit organization and institution.

Fashion has become an ascent to the visibility of Shayer’s craft and has taken him on a journey down the runway. An ambassador for Lululemon, the activewear brand, Shayer has most recently been the creative director of the film project “PAS DE DEUX” which is presented in collaboration with the legendary French fashion house CHANEL, for the salvation of the arts during 2020’s lockdown. It was noted that Gabrielle [Coco] Chanel was a big proponent of ballet. An impromptu lunch meeting with Russian creative impresario Sergei Diaghilev of the renowned Ballet Russes essentially turned into a pitch to Coco Chanel of his The Rite of Spring ballet in which she happily funded. 

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