Jock Soto (born 1965)Kisselgoff, Anna. "Not Only a Partner, a Dynamic Interpreter", ''The New York Times'', June 18, 2005. p. B7. is a former American

ballet dancer A ballet dancer is a person who practices the Art (skill), art of classical ballet. Both females and males can practice ballet. They rely on years of extensive training and proper technique to become a part of a professional ballet company. B ...

and current ballet instructor.

Career

Jock Soto danced featured roles in over 40 ballets, of which more than 35 were created for him. While a student at the

School of American Ballet The School of American Ballet (SAB) is the associate school of the New York City Ballet, a ballet company based at the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts in New York City. The school trains students from the age of six, with professional voc ...

(SAB) he danced the role of Luke in

Peter Martins Peter Martins (born 27 October 1946) is a Danish former ballet dancer and choreographer. Martins was a principal dancer with the Royal Danish Ballet and with the New York City Ballet, where he joined George Balanchine, Jerome Robbins, and J ...

' ''

The Magic Flute ''The Magic Flute'' (, ), K. 620, is an opera in two acts by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart to a German libretto by Emanuel Schikaneder. It is a ''Singspiel'', a popular form that included both singing and spoken dialogue. The work premiered on ...

'', which was choreographed for SAB's 1981 workshop performances. It transferred to the

New York City Ballet New York City Ballet (NYCB) is a ballet company founded in 1948 by choreographer George Balanchine and Lincoln Kirstein. Balanchine and Jerome Robbins are considered the founding choreographers of the company. Léon Barzin was the company's fir ...

, and he retained his role. He joined New York City Ballet in 1981 and made his debut as Luke in ''The Magic Flute'' the following January. He was promoted to soloist in 1984 and to

principal dancer A principal dancer (often shortened to principal) is a dancer at the highest rank within a professional dance company, particularly a ballet company. A principal may be either gender. The position is similar to that of ''Soloist (ballet), solois ...

in 1985. Soto danced the role of a parent in the 1993 film version of ''

The Nutcracker ''The Nutcracker'' (, ), Opus number, Op. 71, is an 1892 two-act classical ballet (conceived as a '; ) by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, set on Christmas Eve at the foot of a Christmas tree in a child's imagination featuring a Nutcracker doll. Th ...

'', a version based on the New York City Ballet production choreographed by

George Balanchine George Balanchine (; Various sources: * * * * born Georgiy Melitonovich Balanchivadze;, Romanization of Georgian, : April 30, 1983) was a Georgian-American ballet choreographer, recognized as one of the most influential choreographers ...

. He gave his farewell performance on Sunday, June 19, 2005. The program featured ballets by five different choreographers: "Dance at the Gym" from

Jerome Robbins Jerome Robbins (born Jerome Wilson Rabinowitz; October 11, 1918 – July 29, 1998) was an American dancer, choreographer, film director, theatre director and producer who worked in classical ballet, on stage, film, and television. Among his nu ...

' ''

West Side Story Suite ''West Side Story Suite'' is a ballet suite choreographed by Jerome Robbins. Robbins conceived, directed and choreographed the 1957 musical ''West Side Story'', then co-directed its 1961 film adaptation, before including parts of the choreogr ...

'',

' '' Barber Violin Concerto'',

Christopher Wheeldon Christopher Peter Wheeldon (born 22 March 1973) is an English international choreographer of contemporary ballet. Early life Born in Yeovil, Somerset, to an engineer and a physical therapist, Wheeldon began training to be a ballet dancer at th ...

's ''

Liturgy Liturgy is the customary public ritual of worship performed by a religious group. As a religious phenomenon, liturgy represents a communal response to and participation in the sacred through activities reflecting praise, thanksgiving, remembra ...

'',

Lynne Taylor-Corbett Lynne Aileen Taylor-Corbett (December 2, 1946 – January 12, 2025) was an American choreographer, director, lyricist and composer. Life and career Lynne Taylor-Corbett was born in Denver, Colorado on December 2, 1946. She grew up in the area a ...

's ''

Chiaroscuro In art, chiaroscuro ( , ; ) is the use of strong contrasts between light and dark, usually bold contrasts affecting a whole composition. It is also a technical term used by artists and art historians for the use of contrasts of light to ach ...

'', and the Royal Navy section of George Balanchine's ''

Union Jack The Union Jack or Union Flag is the ''de facto'' national flag of the United Kingdom. The Union Jack was also used as the official flag of several British colonies and dominions before they adopted their own national flags. It is sometimes a ...

''. He has been a permanent member of the faculty at SAB since 1996, where he teaches partnering and technique classes to intermediate and advanced students. He also has pursued a "culinary career".

Personal life

Soto was born in

Gallup, New Mexico Gallup is a city in McKinley County, New Mexico, United States, with a population of 21,899 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. A substantial percentage of its population is Native Americans in the United States, Native American, wi ...

, and raised in

Phoenix, Arizona Phoenix ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities and towns in Arizona#List of cities and towns, most populous city of the U.S. state of Arizona. With over 1.6 million residents at the 2020 census, it is the ...

. His parents are Puerto Rican and

Navajo The Navajo or Diné are an Indigenous people of the Southwestern United States. Their traditional language is Diné bizaad, a Southern Athabascan language. The states with the largest Diné populations are Arizona (140,263) and New Mexico (1 ...

. Soto is openly gay. He had a long-term relationship with

choreographer Choreography is the art of designing sequences of movements of physical bodies (or their depictions) in which Motion (physics), motion or Visual appearance, form or both are specified. ''Choreography'' may also refer to the design itself. A chor ...

, with whom he also had a critically lauded professional relationship. In June 2003, Soto met chef/sommelier Luis Fuentes and began a relationship with him. Soto and Fuentes were married in New York on October 14, 2011; their wedding was featured in ''The New York Times "Vows" column.Shattuck, Kathryn. "Vows: Jock Soto and Luis Fuentes", ''The New York Times'', November 3, 2011. p. ST16.

Filmography

*''

'' (1993) *''Water Flowing Together'' (2007), an award-winning documentary film about Jock Soto, directed and produced by Gwendolen Cates. Premiered on PBS Independent Lens April 2008.

Books

*"Every Step You Take" (2011), HarperCollins *"Our Meals" (a cookbook) with Heather Watts

References

External links

Jock Soto video/interview on Plum TV
on

PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcaster and non-commercial, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly funded nonprofit organization and the most prominent provider of educat ...

' ''

Independent Lens ''Independent Lens'' is a weekly television series airing on PBS featuring documentary films made by independent filmmakers. Past seasons of ''Independent Lens'' were hosted by Angela Bassett, Don Cheadle, Susan Sarandon, Edie Falco, Terrenc ...

'' * {{DEFAULTSORT:Soto, Jock 1960s births Living people Year of birth uncertain Navajo people American people of Puerto Rican descent American male ballet dancers American ballet teachers American gay entertainers American gay artists American LGBTQ dancers New York City Ballet principal dancers People from Gallup, New Mexico School of American Ballet alumni School of American Ballet faculty Gay dancers LGBTQ Native Americans LGBTQ Hispanic and Latino American people LGBTQ people from New Mexico 20th-century Native American people 21st-century Native American people 20th-century American ballet dancers 21st-century American ballet dancers 20th-century American LGBTQ people 21st-century American LGBTQ people Native American people from New Mexico