Mr. Underwood was born in Tulsa, Oklahoma. In 1976, he began his studies in dance with Moscelyn Larken and Roman Jasinsky, former principals of the Ballet Russe. In 1981 as a student at the Oklahoma Summer Arts Institute, he studied with Georgina Parkinson, ballet mistress of American Ballet Theater. That fall, at Miss Parkinson's recommendation, he joined ABT under the direction of Mikhail Baryshnikov. During his years there, he enjoyed working with many ballet luminaries, including George Balanchine, Roland Petit, Sir Kenneth MacMillan, Agnes DeMille and Eugene Loring.

In 1983, while on tour with ABT in Los Angeles, Robert studied briefly with Mia Slavenska, fomerly of the Ballet Russe and a favorite partner of his teacher, Roman Jasinsky. Intrigued with her radical approach to technique, he returned that summer during the off-season to study further with Slavenska. In 1984 Robert took a year's leave from performing and moved to Los Angeles to study intensively with Miss Slavenska.

At the end of their year working together, Mr. Underwood was invited to join the Opera Ballet of Lower Saxony in Hannover, Germany, as a principal. There he danced the majority of the classical and romantic repertoire including roles in Swan Lake, Coppelia, Giselle, Les Sylphides, Cinderella and The Nutcracker.

At the invitation of director Uwe Scholz, Mr. Underwood joined the Zürich Opera Ballet from 1988 to 1990. Through his work with Scholz, Mr. Underwood further developed his technique and polished the musicality for which his dancing was known. In 1990, Robert joined the Ballet of the Bavarian State Theatre in Münich, Germany, as a principal, where he enjoyed critical success in the Cranko repertoire, particularly in the roles of Lenski in Eugene Onegin and Lucentio in Taming of the Shrew.

After eight years in Europe and wishing to be closer to his family, Robert rejoined American Ballet Theater in 1993 under the direction of Kevin McKenzie. In early 1996, Mr. Underwood accepted an invitation from director Bruce Marks to join Boston Ballet, where he remained until his retirement from the stage in 2002.

Robert's performing career took him to stages worldwide including South Korea, Japan, Bulgaria, Germany, France, Israel, Italy and Switzerland.

Mr. Underwood began his teaching career at the encouragement of Jean Pierre Bonnefous. Prior to opening Houston Center for Dance, Robert's teaching assignments included Boston Ballet, Houston Ballet, Houston Ballet Academy, Indiana University and Margo Marshall's School of Ballet.

As a choreographer, Robert has had works performed by the Ballet of the Bavarian State Theatre and Boston Ballet.