Colorful, flamboyant and warm, in many ways Susie Cashion was like the Mexican folkloric dances she taught for more than 35 years. A fierce advocate of the development of traditional Mexican dance companies in the United States, Cashion was a key supporter for the recognition of ethnic dance—especially Latin American and Mexican dance—as both an art form and a sociocultural practice.
Susan Valerie Cashion, MA '82, PhD '83, died unexpectedly in Palo Alto on August 29 after being struck by a commuter train. Her death was ruled a suicide. She was 70.
A native of Pasadena, Calif., Cashion was studying modern dance at UCLA when, on a trip to Guadalajara, Mexico, she attended a traditional dance performance and fell in love. She changed her major to Mexican and Latin American dance and met her longtime partner, Ramón Morones, while conducting research. Together they founded Los Lupeños de San Jose Mexican Dance Company in 1969. Cashion also helped start the Asociación Nacional de Grupos Folklóricos, a national organization promoting the study of Mexican culture, dance and music.
She joined the Stanford dance division in 1972, the same year she founded the Ballet Folklórico de Stanford. Cashion taught dance anthropology as well as modern dance, Mexican dance and Latin American dance and served as director of the University's dance division for nearly 25 years, retiring in 2007.
According to current dance division director Janice Ross, a student, colleague and friend of Cashion's for 25 years, "She was 'Susie' to everyone, never Susan or Doctor Cashion. She always entered a room, a conversation, a class, with a burst of enthusiasm, high energy and an upbeat greeting to all."
Cashion's insistence that her dance students perform in full costume extended to a performance by the Ballet Folklórico in which she arranged for several "candy-painted" low-rider sedans to be parked at the steps of Dinkelspiel Auditorium to greet the audience before the show for an authentic cultural experience. "I am grateful to Susie for integrating lessons in life and culture with our dance training," says Chelsea Eng, '98, MA '99, one of Cashion's former students. "She taught us to show up and keep our commitment to the team. And when teaching, be generous; always go above and beyond."
Among her many honors and distinctions, Cashion was recognized by the Mexican government in 1980 for significant contributions to the culture and teaching of Mexican folklore in the United States. In 2007, Cashion founded a nonprofit called the Cashion Cultural Legacy, dedicated to preserving and archiving Mexican dance and culture.
Cashion was predeceased by Morones, who was killed during an argument with an employee at Cashion's ranch in Mexico in 2011. She is survived by a brother.
Julie Muller Mitchell, '79, is a writer in San Francisco.
