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Film will explore life of Navajo ballet dancer PDF Print E-mail
Mar 21, 2007 at 11:52 PM
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Photo by Gwendolen Cates
By Cindy Yurth
Navajo Times

CHINLE — It’s only March, and already 2007 looks like it will go down as a banner year for Navajo-related cinema.

First came “Milepost 398,” Shonie and Andee de la Rosa’s gripping depiction of an alcoholic struggling against fate to mend his ways.

Soon to be released is Travis Hamilton’s “Turquoise Rose,” which portrays the tension between urban and reservation lifestyles for modern Navajos.


And now Gwendolen Cates, author of the critically acclaimed photo collection “Indian Country,” has announced she’s almost finished with a documentary on the life of Diné/Puerto Rican ballet dancer Jock Soto.

“We’re in post-production right now, which just seems to drag on forever,” Cates lamented in a telephone interview from her New York City studio. “But I’m really hoping to have it out by the end of the month. And one thing that’s really important to me is to have a Navajo Nation premier.”

Cates, an accomplished still photographer who had never worked in film before, was approached about the project by Soto three years ago. The two had become friends when Cates photographed the dancer for “Indian Country.”

Soto had decided to retire from his post as principal dancer for the New York City Ballet, and thought his story might inspire other young artists, Cates explained.

“I think Jock’s life could serve as a model for those kids who really have a passion about something,” Cates said.

Titled “Water Flowing Together,” after Soto’s maternal clan, the documentary traces Soto’s life from his early childhood in Chinle, where he hoop-danced with his mother Josephine Towne, to his retirement from the New York City Ballet in 2005 at age 40.

He’s now teaching at the School of American Ballet at Lincoln Center, and running a catering business with his partner.

“One of the most interesting aspects of Jock’s life, to me, is both his connection and disconnection from the Navajo culture,” said Cates, an Anglo who visited the Navajo Nation with her linguist father from the time she was about 9 years old.

“The family left the reservation for Phoenix when he was very young, and yet there’s a groundedness to his ballet dancing that is very special and unique. I personally think it comes from those early years dancing with his mother.”

According to Cates, Soto announced he wanted to be a ballet dancer when he was four years old, after watching a ballet special on the Ed Sullivan Show. Most parents might have brushed it off, but Josephine and Soto’s father, José Soto, immediately enrolled him in a dance class.

“He never wavered,” Cates said. “He’s one of those people who knew what he wanted to do all his life.”

In his early teens, Soto danced with the Westside Ballet in Santa Monica, Calif. He finished his training at the School of American Ballet, where he now teaches, and started with the NYCB in 1981 at the age of 16. In 1985 he was chosen as one of the principal dancers.

Soto has also known for most of his life that he was gay, and the documentary touches on that aspect of his life.

“The Navajo side of his family was really accepting,” said Cates. “His father’s side struggled a little. His dad says in the film, ‘In my culture, we don’t even mention that.’ But he came to the realization that Jock was his son, and he loved him, and being gay was part of who he is.”

Making the film took Cates to the reservation, Puerto Rico, and all over Europe following the NYCB.

“Because of union restrictions, I couldn’t film the ballet in New York City,” explained Cates, “and I couldn’t imagine making a film about a dancer without showing him dancing.”

She was allowed to travel with the company, “which was a tremendous privilege,” she said.

“So part of the film shows the reservation, which is a hidden world to most Americans, and then part of it is behind the scenes with the company, which is another hidden world. When I think about it, a lot of this film is exposing people to two hidden worlds.”

Cates said she’s not a dancer herseslf (“God, no! I’m actually kind of clumsy”) and had little interest in ballet before making the film. She thinks that’s an asset.

“I wasn’t like a ballet fanatic, so I think I can show ballet to an audience who is not part of the ballet world,” she said. “You learn what incredible athletes ballet dancers are. You don’t normally notice because they make it look so effortless.

“What’s exciting,” she mused, “is all the stories within the larger story of Jock’s life. That’s what made it worthwhile and challenging, and hopefully will make it interesting for the audience as well.”

Cates said she feels “honored” to have been asked to document the life of a man she considers not only a great artist but also a friend.

“There’s a lot of trust involved in telling someone’s story,” she said. “I hope I’ve earned that trust. I hope I’ve created something that will educate and inspire.”

Asked if she plans to continue making films, Cates replied, “Ask me when I’m finished with this one. You don’t ask a pregnant woman if she wants another baby. I feel like I’ve been in labor for three years.”

Cates promised to keep Times readers posted on the local premier for “Water Flowing Together.”

More on Jock Soto:
http://nativeout.com/content/view/42/55/

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