Robin Stiehm's professional dance career spans 4 decades, beginning as a ballet dancer at the Minnesota Dance Theatre. She was a soloist at MDT, performing in ballets such as Concerto Barocco, Les Sylphides and La Bayadere and became a prime interpreter of choreographer Loyce Houlton's contemporary ballet.
In 1989 Robin transitioned to modern dance and worked with New Dance Ensemble, also in Minneapolis, MN. There she was privileged to work with many choreographers, including Bill T. Jones, David Dorfman, Bebe Miller, Ralph Lemon and a host of others.
Robin began choreographing in 1990 and in 1994 formed her own group, Dancing People Company, based in Minneapolis. During her Minneapolis years, Robin’s work received support from the McKnight and Jerome Foundations, and the Minnesota State Arts Board. In 2000, she received a prestigious Bush Artist Fellowship.
In 2003 she relocated the company to Ashland, Oregon. In the 13 years DPC was in Oregon, Robin developed strong professional dancers and maintained a salaried company with whom she created many pieces. She also developed an innovative high school program that introduced modern dance to many hundreds of students in rural Southern Oregon, and created an annual community-based Winter Solstice program. Both of these endeavors created strong connections between the professional company dancers and the community it served. DPC’s work in Oregon was supported by the Oregon Community Foundation, the Oregon Arts Commission, the Carpenter Foundation, the City of Ashland, and many others.
During the 20 years of her directorship at DPC Robin choreographed over 50 works and brought the company on tour to Poland, Russia, Belarus, and Japan as well as traveling in the USA. Robin has been a guest teacher and choreographer at international festivals and at colleges, including the University of Minnesota as a Cowles Chair Guest Artist; University of Oregon; St. Olaf College; Mankato State University; Pacific University; and Escuela Profesional de Danza de Mazatlan. She has choreographed pieces for Zenon Dance Company, Ballet Pacifica, Ballet Arts Minnesota, ARENA Dance, and Traduza Dance Company, in addition to the many pieces she created for her own company.