Dimensions
140 x 210 x 25mm
In June of 2005, at the age of 40, Jock Soto gave the last performance of his professional career as a principal dancer at the New York City ballet. An unprecedented event, the performance involved pieces choreographed by five different choreographers and capped one of the most storied careers in the history of ballet. The night was emotional, cathartic, celebrated -- and bittersweet. For as someone whose existence had been defined very much by his own dancing, Jock Soto was now about to begin a new chapter of his life.
In this intimate and incredibly moving memoir, Soto takes us all the way back to his unique childhood as the son of a Navajo mother and a Puerto Rican father. Caught between two worlds, and also identifying as gay, he sought the solace of dance from a very early age, beginning a career that would often be as notable for its auspicious start as it's consistent success. Soto describes his encounters and professional relationships with some of the most famous dancers of the modern era, including Mikhail Baryshnikov, Christopher Wheeldon, Darci Kistler, Lourdes Lopez, Ethan Stiefel, and many others. And he describes the newest chapter in his life, as director of the School of American Ballet, arguably the most famous and most competitive ballet school in the world.
Supplemented with recipes for the delicious multicultural food that he learned to cook growing up, and with beautiful photographs of Soto's career achievements and private family moments, EVERY STEP YOU TAKE takes us many scenes beyond Soto's award-winning documentary, WATER FLOWING TOGETHER, and shows us the honest and inspiring evolution of a remarkable artist and living legend.
