Every Step You Take (30 page)

Papa Joe, definitely an “outsider” on the reservation.
(Courtesy of the Soto family)

Papa Joe, Mama Jo, me, and Kiko (standing) in our famous
Partridge Family
–style portrait, taken at the local strip mall. I wore that vest for the next ten years.
(Courtesy of the Soto family)

At age twelve, dancing the Spanish section of Yvonne Mounsey's version of
The Nutcracker
at the Westside School of Ballet in Santa Monica, California.
(Courtesy of the Soto family)

School of American Ballet teacher Stanley Williams, choreographer and artistic director of New York City Ballet George Balanchine, Dagoberto Nieves, and me, during rehearsal of August Bournonville's
Jockey Dance
for my first workshop as a student at SAB.
(© Martha Swope)

Rehearsing
The Magic Flute
with Peter Martins and Katrina Killian for my second workshop at SAB in 1981.
(© Steven Caras)

Performing the “Gigue” solo in Balanchine's
Mozartiana
during my first year with the company.
(© Steven Caras)

Dancing the role of Luke in the new company production of
The Magic Flute
in 1982.
(© Steven Caras)

My debut in Mr. B's
Symphony in Three Movements
, dancing the second movement pas de deux with Maria Calegari.
(© 1983 Martha Swope)

Dancing with Heather Watts in
Concerto for Two Solo Pianos
, the first ballet that Peter Martins choreographed on the two of us.
(© Martha Swope)

At a black-tie event in Paris, with Ulrik (center) and colleague John Bass, on my first European tour with the company in 1983.

A big thrill for me came when I danced the “Rubies” section of Balanchine's
Jewels
—the very ballet that had inspired me at age four—with Heather Watts.
(© 1983 Martha Swope)

Dancing the “Royal Navy” section of Balanchine's
Union Jack
in 1986. Almost twenty years later, I would dance the same role in my retirement performance.
(© Steven Caras)