Robert Allen received his M.F.A. in directing from Columbia University, where he studied under Anne Bogart, Andre Serban, Marcus Stern, and others. He also has an M.F.A. in choreography and performance from UCLA. While at UCLA he studied with Bill T. Jones and worked with him on several projects after graduation. He has had a full professional career as a dancer, choreographer, and physical theater artist in the United States and Europe. Since 1997, he has been actively choreographing and directing theater productions in New York, Los Angeles, Baltimore, and Europe. He has taught acting, directing, and movement for actors at Cypress College; California State University, Long Beach (where he held the title of Head of Movement); and most recently at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County as an Assistant Professor in directing.
Robert’s career as a performer includes extensive practical experience in various recent approaches to theater and dance making, both in the United States and in Germany. He was recruited to work in Germany for the choreographer Reinhild Hoffmann, a contemporary of Pina Bausch in the Tanztheater movement. Previously, he worked for Japanese choreographer Kei Takei.
His directing credits include participation in theater festivals such as the New York International Fringe Festival, the Chekhov Now Festival, and the “August in January” Strindberg festival. He’s directed the plays of new and emerging playwrights in connection with major producers such as LaMama E.T.C. and the Theater for the New City. He has also self-produced and directed a wide variety of new performance works in New York City and elsewhere. This work has been the subject of recent articles in a number of respected journals such as Leonardo: the Journal of the International Society for Art, Science & Technology; Horizon Zero, a publication of the Banff New Media Institute; and most recently Extensions: the online journal of embodied technology, published by UCLA.
Robert is a certified teacher of the Michael Chekhov method for actor training with the National Michael Chekhov association. He is also a certified yoga teacher with the National Yoga Alliance.