Honoring Jock Soto: Santa Fe celebrates a Diné ballet icon, new scholarship

By Karen Francis
Special to the Times

WINDOW ROCK

Jock Soto didn’t see other Native Americans in ballet during his professional career. Soto, who is Diné and Puerto Rican, was a principal dancer with the New York City Ballet for 24 years, retiring in 2005.

Now 20 years later, a celebration of his life’s work and legacy will be held Aug. 23 at the Lensic Performing Arts Center in Santa Fe.

“An Evening with Jock Soto,” hosted by the International Museum of Dance and ChromaDiverse, will feature performances by Festival Ballet Albuquerque and Ballet Taos.

At this event, the Jock Soto Scholarship, through the Moving Memories Fund developed by IMOD and CD, will be launched with a scholarship being awarded to an Indigenous student to train in ballet.

“He’s the first Native person I’ve seen since I was 13 (in ballet). He looks very talented and very gifted,” Soto said about the selected recipient.
Soto’s life of dance began at 3 when he learned hoop dancing from his mother Josephine.

“The whole thing made my heart race, which it still does today,” he said about hoop dancing. “When we go to the Pueblo and we see hoop dancers … my heart just starts pumping and I feel like I have to move.”

His interest in ballet started when he saw ballet dancer Edward Villella performing on the Ed Sullivan Show. “That’s when I went to my mom’s room and I said to her, ‘This is what I want to do,’” he said.

Published Aug. 21, 2025     Updated Aug. 23, 2025
A correction was made on August 23, 2025: An earlier version of this article incorrectly referred to Jock Soto as Jack Soto. His correct name is Jock Soto.

To read the full article, please see the Aug. 21, 2025, edition of the Navajo Times.

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