The men weren’t quite as handsome as John Travolta, but they did know how to swivel their hips. Robert Wootton’s dance club Spirit flashed back to the 1970s Monday night for a party to celebrate the exhibit “Disco: A Decade of Saturday Nights,” at the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts.

“Dance music feels good,” said radio personality Gene Arnold, whose current show is “The Sounds of Philly.”

“It’s a good time,” said the creator of the first disco television show, “Disco Step by Step,” Martin Angelo. Yet Mr. Angelo, 58, who came up from Fort Lauderdale for the exhibit opening and party, admitted, “I’m a little too old for the clubs – I have more of a historic perspective.”

The director of the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, Jacqueline Davis, pointed out the other disco luminaries attending, such as Frank Crapanzano – one of the original Beanie Boys, a group of men who made beanies their dancing uniform at clubs; the backer of the Paradise Garage and founder of West End Records, Mel Cheren; the owner of the Flamingo, Michael Fesco, and Earl Young of the Trammps (“Disco Inferno”), whose drum kit is in the exhibit.

Showing their love for books and disco were the director of the Science, Industry and Business Library, Kristin McDonough, and the director of the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, Howard Dodson (who yesterday launched a project to document the African-American migration experience).

Some of the guests gladly shared their favorite disco tunes. Craig Allen mentioned “Don’t Leave Me This Way” by Thelma Houston. The executive producer of the Brooklyn Academy of Music, Joseph Melillo, cited Gloria Gaynor’s “I Will Survive.” Professional dancers Luis and Mary Ann Rosa praised “Down to Love Town” by the Originals. Biographer Chris Anderson, whose bachelor father first took him to discos when he was 8, mentioned “Good Times” by Chic.

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The New York City Ballet annual luncheon yesterday honored dancer Jock Soto, who in June is retiring after 24 years with the company.

Mr. Soto, 39, is one of the last dancers in the company who worked with George Balanchine.

“I’m ready for the second part of my life,” he said in an interview with Lesley Stahl held on the stage of the New York State Theater before the luncheon.

“I’d rather retire dancing well and looking well,” Mr. Soto said.

His body is ready for a rest. “It takes me all day to prepare for a performance, physically and mentally. If I don’t go to physical therapy, I’m in great pain,” he added.

Dancer Tom Gold, who will also be in the performance, expressed respect and affection for Mr. Soto. “He’s like an encyclopedia – one only hopes we’ve given him one-eighth of what he’s given us,” Mr. Gold said.

For his second act, Mr. Soto would like to open a restaurant and have a show on the Food Channel.

He advised on the menu for the luncheon – a very healthy quartet of salads. Dessert was more indulgent: pecan tart, made from a recipe in the cookbook he authored with his former dance partner, Heather Watts, who snapped photographs throughout the event. (Mr. Soto ate half of his portion.)

“I’m going to make a scrapbook for Jock,” Ms. Watts said. “Today he’s launching his retirement, and I’m going to document it.” She noted that the one memento she has from her own going-away party is a poster signed by all the dancers.

The chairwomen of the event were Alba Clemente, Jenny Laird, Patricia Shiah, and Ms. Stahl, and the power crowd included the chairwoman of the New York City Opera, Susan Baker; the chairman of Jazz at Lincoln Center, Lisa Schiff; a board member of the Studio Museum in Harlem, Carol Sutton Lewis, and the executive director of the School of American Ballet, where Mr. Soto has taught for eight years, Marjorie Van Dercook (who noted the date of the school’s winter benefit, Monday, March 7 – a glamorous 1940s-themed dinner dance).