this male ballet dancer is breaking barriers from moscow to new york

Gabe Stone Shayer is the first Black dancer to be accepted and graduate from Moscow’s prestigious dance company, Bolshoi’s Ballet. Now, he’s bursting through even more barriers as a member of the American Ballet Theater, which upcoming shows this October!

On Instagram, the Philadelphia native is popular for documenting these accomplishments throughout his travels while capturing the beauty of dance. This is all part of his motto: “Achieve the unachievable!” which is exactly what he has done, performing his first principle role at the age of 18 in a work by choreographer Alexei Ratmansky, receiving the Clive Barnes Award for Dance in 2016, and winning Best Male Dancer in the super competitive Bolshoi’s Ballet. Shayer has also been featured in Dance Magazine‘s Top 25 Dancers to Watch, and in “The Art of Movement” by NYC Dance Project.

Learn more about the groundbreaking dancer here, and check out some photos from his journey to “achieve the unachievable” below!

Photo: Jade Young

Photo: NYC Dance Project

Photo: NYC Dance Project

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