Sarah Stackhouse 1936-2024 | In Memoriam

March 19, 1936-January 7, 2024

Sarah Stackhouse, who was José Limón’s teaching assistant at Juilliard and served on the faculty, died on January 7 at 87.

Born March 19, 1936, Sarah Stackhouse met José Limón (faculty 1951–72) at the American Dance Festival, where he was teaching. She joined his company, which he had co-founded with Doris Humphrey (faculty 1951–58) in 1958. According to Stackhouse’s New York Times obituary, Limón “prized [her] versatility and expressive stage presence.”

Stackhouse was principal dancer until her retirement from the Limón Company, in 1969. Stackhouse had become Limón’s assistant at Juilliard in 1963, continuing in that role until his death, in 1972; she also served on the Juilliard faculty from 1967 to 1970. Stackhouse wrote extensively about dance and Limón, and she also served on the faculties of the American Dance Festival and SUNY Purchase conservatory as well as being a specialist for the U.S. State Department’s cultural programs division. She is survived by her husband, Nano Seeber, and their son, Roel Seeber; her sister; and a grandson.

Longtime Juilliard faculty member Risa Steinberg paid tribute to her former teacher and colleague.

A Guiding Light

By Risa Steinberg
While I was a student at Juilliard, Sarah Stackhouse, a principal dancer with the José Limón Dance Company, was a guiding light as a Limón teacher. We knew her as Sally; as a dancer, she was both a gazelle and a lioness. She electrified her space, and as a teacher, she brought her students into a world rich in freedom, specificity, musicality, and intention. Her body had a richness and ease that would inspire us to reach beyond what we thought possible. She could and would devour space in only one step. That was a dream we all shared and one we were able to achieve because of her.

During those early years, she went from Sally to Sarah, and her classes at Juilliard went from a pure Limón class to improvising and reciting poetry while traveling on the diagonal—she seemed always curious to know more and go beyond what was familiar. Her curiosity inspired and supported us to be the same, and therefore, we always believed there was more to excavate and grapple with, even the unfamiliar or the uncomfortable.

As often happens in the dance world, our student-teacher relationship morphed, and eventually, we became colleagues dancing together in the company of Annabelle Gamson, a collective of women soloists. During those many years, I experienced Sarah’s artistry, and in such proximity, I continued to learn from her daily. We all experienced her unending humanity, which included a wonderful laugh that lit up the space as her dancing lit up the stage. I am one of many who are who we are because of who she was.

Risa Steinberg (BFA ’71, dance) joined the dance faculty in 2000