Gabe Stone Shayer Talks Pursuing His Dreams
In an interview with Gabe Stone Shayer, the American Ballet Theatre Soloist talks pandemic, dance memories, and masculinity!
PHOTOGRAPHS by Ammar Thomas
STYLING & INTERVIEW by Nigel Isaiah
Do you feel you’ve gained anything as an artist coming out of the Pandemic?
Yes, I feel like I've gained space, perspective, and artistic freedom. It's easy for everyone with whatever work you're doing to get caught up in the repetitions of creating. At a big ballet company, we're constantly slated to be doing the next thing. Having this time has given me space to reevaluate what I want to do as an artist, with my voice without the weight of a company on my shoulders.
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As you get ready to return to the theatre are there any changes you’d like to see in Ballet?
For sure, more diversity! That’s been a problem forever and it’s being highlighted now. I think the ballet world is one of the last frontiers of really embracing changes in that way. I think there’s a lot of gatekeeping in ballet because it’s such an old art form. It’s thought that if we don’t change anything that means we’re keeping the integrity which I think is a common misconception. The integrity of ballet is in the vocabulary of movement, not the subject matter or the person that’s doing it. I hope that we can open the eyes of the people who run the shows and the people who watch the shows to want to hear from new voices and diverse artists.
Did growing up in an art-oriented home help with believing you could pursue and achieve your dreams?
Completely! I feel like because I was always exposed to every sort of performing art, gallery openings, fashion shows, my mom took me to everything so I never felt like anything was out of the question. To that, I felt like everything was possible. If I wanted to be an astronaut or if I wanted to be a ditch digger I could do it and my mom would support me.
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Do you have any stand-out memories from your early years dancing or competing?
I remember one of the first times I felt that the art form, my artistic expression, and my internal emotions manifested into a performance on stage. I was about 9 (I think) and I did a production based on a book written about the genocide that had happened in Sudan/Darfur. I was playing a young boy from the village and I remember I had a duet with an older guy who was supposed to be my father figure. After learning about the subject matter and attaching myself to the story we were narrating with our movement, it was the first time I felt real emotion. I didn’t feel like I was acting. I didn’t feel like I was putting something on for the audience. I felt like was living in the most real sense of the word. It was one of the most beautiful moments for me as an artist because I was like, ‘oh this is the peak, this what I want to replicate." Feeling my emotions to the fullest extent and hopefully in a beautiful way.
How would you describe your masculinity?
It’s funny because I play with this word a lot. I feel like masculinity and femininity are superfluous words because I think the way people usually use masculinity is to refer to strength and we all show strength in different ways. My masculinity or my strength is within my intellect, refraining from acting out and being vulnerable. Those are also things that are associated with femininity as well so hopefully, I’m perfectly yin-yang with that.
Have you always been comfortable with your masculinity as a dancer?
There was a period when I was younger still in regular academic school when I was being teased and made fun of a lot. There was another pivotal moment when I was young where I was trying hard to not seem effeminate at all. Then I got to the point where I was like f-it. I’m the happiest when I’m in the studio when I’m dancing when I’m able to express myself and wave a scarf and it doesn’t mean it's feminine, masculine, gay, or straight. I love living through passion and if passion is feminine and gay then good luck on your future endeavors because I’m going to have fun.
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