Allen, Richard James (1960 - )

Verheyden, Christopher: Portrait of Richard James Allen

Website | Research Materials | Other Resources

Richard James Allen has established a notable career both within Australia and internationally as a choreographer, dancer, writer, director and producer. With Karen Pearlman, Allen directs The Physical TV Company. Formed in 1997 this film and video company develops and produces works within and across the media of dance, film, literature and new media, creating unique integrations of screen and dance arts. Its award-winning works have been broadcast in Australia, Europe, China and the USA and screened at over two hundred Australian and international film and dance film festivals. Most recently, the company launched The Kamikaze Mind project, pioneering literary, dance and screen content for mobile phones.

Allen has studied classical, contemporary and postmodern dance, yoga, acting, improvisation and composition with leading practitioners such as Sara Rudner, Stephen Petronio, Bebe Miller, Nina Wiener, Maggie Black, Zvi Gotheiner, The Talking Band, Merce Cunningham, Sharon Gannon and David Life, and Shri K Pattabhi Jois. He has also studied at the Australian Film, Television and Radio School, the University of Sydney, the University of Technology, Sydney, and the New School for Social Research in New York.

As a professional dancer and choreographer Allen has worked with international companies such as KISS International Theatre Research Group (Holland), Victoria Marks Performance Group (New York), and Zvi Gotheiner and Dancers (New York), with Australian companies Tasdance and Dance North, and with numerous independent dance and film artists. He has choreographed and directed for the stage, for site specific locations, for film and television and for new media platforms.

Prior to The Physical TV Company, Allen and Pearlman were for two years artistic directors of Tasdance. Before that they co-directed That Was Fast, a New York and Sydney-based dance, poetry, film and video company which was acclaimed for the 'cinematic blend of text and dance action' in its works. That Was Fast toured extensively within Australia and internationally.

Allen has also published a number of books as a poet and performance writer. His most recent work, Thursday's Fictions, was shortlisted for the 2000 NSW Premier's Literary Award and has been adapted by Allen into a short feature film and a three-dimensional immersive story world in the online virtual world of Second Life. Thursday's Fictions won an ATOM award for best experimental film, as did the 2002 Physical TV film No Surrender which featured Bernadette Walong.

Allen's work has been supported in Australia by the Australia Council for the Arts, the Australian Film Commission, the NSW Ministry for the Arts, the NSW Film and Television Office, Arts Tasmania and Critical Path and overseas by organisations such as Danspace Project (NYC), P.S. 122 (NYC), the National Performance Network (USA), The Kitchen (NYC), the British Arts Council (UK), The Place (London), The Third Eye Centre (Glasgow), Die Werkstatt (Dusseldorf), Theater aan de Haaven (Den Haag), the New York State Council on the Arts and many private foundations. Current and past projects of The Physical TV Company are listed on the company website which is available as a link under 'Research Materials' below.

See also: Dance North ; Pearlman, Karen ; TasDance

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Research Materials

Ephemera | Moving picture | Website | All

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Other resources

Find more about Allen, Richard James in:

• Internet - Google
• Articles - New York Public Library Dance Collection
• Pictures - Picture Australia
• Collection - OzLife