This episode of Nativescape is a collection of excerpts from a previously recorded interview with some of the cast and crew of Following Enchantment’s Line, a short film produced in collaboration between the Wheelwright Museum and the Georgia O’Keefe Museum. The film draws inspiration from the lines, shadows, and light seen across the northern New Mexico landscape which has influenced many artists throughout time. It is directed by Steven J. Yazzie (Diné/Laguna Pueblo/Anglo), and features renowned dancers Jock Soto (Navajo/Puerto Rican) and Harrison Coll, and a musical score composed by Jerod Impichchaachaaha’ Tate (Chickasaw).
Harrison Coll worked as a creative collaborator with Justin Peck for the 2018 revival of Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Carousel and performed with the ensemble for the Tony Awards show. Coll will be featured as the Jet named "Numbers" in Steven Spielberg's upcoming, West Side Story film. He has performed ballets choreographed by George Balanchine, Jerome Robbins, Justin Peck, Peter Martins, Mauro Bigonzetti, Christopher Wheeldon, and Alexei Ratmansky. Coll’s family has deep roots in Santa Fe; his grandfather, Douglas W. Schwartz, was the Director of the School of American Research (SAR) from 1967–2001 and it was Schwartz’s fundraising efforts which helped the building of the Indian Arts Research Center among many other expansions at SAR. His grandmother, Nita Schwartz, served as a nurse at St. Vincent's Hospital, now the Drury Hotel.
Jock Soto is Navajo and Puerto Rican, born in Gallup, New Mexico. At the age of five, he began studying ballet and continued his studies at the School of American Ballet (SAB), the official school of New York City Ballet. While at the School, Mr. Soto danced the role of "Luke" in Peter Martins' The Magic Flute in 1981. That same year, Georges Balanchine invited him to become a member of the Company's corps de ballet. In 1984 he was promoted to the rank of soloist, and one year later, he was elevated to principal dancer. Mr. Soto's extensive repertory includes featured roles in many of George Balanchine, Jerome Robbins and Peter Martins. Mr. Soto appeared as a guest artist with the Kirov Ballet and at the Bolshoi Theatre with stars from New York City Ballet and American Ballet Theatre in 2003. Mr. Soto's television appearances with New York City Ballet include PBS’s five Live from Lincoln Center. The Guggenheim Museum's Works in Process series on PBS. He has appeared on seven episodes of Sesame Street. In addition to his performing career, Mr. Soto served as a member of SAB's permanent faculty from 1996 to 2015 and teaches at numerous dance departments around the country. During the 2017 New Mexico State legislative session, Mr. Soto received the State’s Certificate of Appreciation from Senator John Pinto for his contribution to the arts. Water Flowing Together, a feature documentary on Mr. Soto was aired on PBS in 2006. Our Meals, Making a Home for Family and Friends, written by Mr. Soto and Heather Watts, was published by Penguin Publishing in 1998. Every Step You Take, Mr. Soto’s critically acclaimed memoir, was published by Harper Collins in 2011.
Jerod Impichchaachaaha’ Tate (Chickasaw Nation) is a classical composer dedicated to developing American Indian classical composition. A Washington Post review said that “Tate is rare as an American Indian composer of classical music. Rarer still is his ability to effectively infuse classical music with American Indian nationalism.” He is a 2011 Emmy award winner. He has performed in the Broadway national tours of Lay Mesarabe and Miss Saigon and has been a guest pianist and accompanist for the Colorado Ballet, Hartford Ballet, and numerous other ballet and dance companies. Tate is a guest composer/conductor/pianist for the San Francisco Symphony and was recently guest composer for Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Balcony Bar program Home with ETHEL and Friends. Recent commissions include Mount Holyoke Symphony Orchestra, the Dallas Symphony Orchestra, and White Snake Opera Company. HBO featured Tate’s music in the recent series Westworld.
Steven J. Yazzie is a multidisciplinary artist working in video, painting, and installation environments. He residencies include the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture, Maine, and the Santa Fe Art Institute. He is the co-founder of Digital Preserve LLC, a video production company that produces stories and content that highlight indigenous issues. Numerous solo and survey exhibitions, Yazzie has shown his work in a long list of national and international institutions, most notably at the Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY; National Museum of the American Indian, New York, NY; National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa, Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto, Canada; Crystal Bridges, and the Wheelwright Museum in Santa Fe, NM. To name a few. Last year alone he was featured in the following exhibitions, Laughter and Resilience: Humor in Native American Art, at the Wheelwright Museum of the American Indian, the New Mexico Museum of Art: The Great Unknown, Art for New Understanding: Native Voices, Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, and Tucson Museum of Art: The Western Sublime. Steve has won several prestigious art awards in his career including most recently, the Eiteljorg Museum’s Contemporary Art Fellowship, Creative Capital and the Joan Mitchell Painters and Sculptors Grant.