Studio Stories: Reminiscing on Twin Cities Dance with Robin Stiehm Season 2 Episode 23

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 DANCES, and Traduza Dance Company,
in addition to the many pieces she created for her own
company.