Profile for Robyn Stuart

 I run alKamie Theatre together with my partner Brian Curson. I have an eclectic career, which enables me to combine scientific enquiry, creating theatrical or live-art performances, and performing. Together with Brian, we have developed animated digital scenography for theatre and dance, which involves animating in real time 3D digital worlds and projecting them over the whole of a white stage space including live performers. We create surreal fantasy-like performances, but which also explore contemporary lifestyle or scientific or new technology issues.

I have been choreographing pieces since 1991 when Istarted a dance degree. I have created and designed pieces that were molded to their environment and incorporated bizarre props and costumes. I typically work with improvisation combined with some tightly crafted movement. In alKamie I combine live dance and animated digital art in a way that creates a seamless world between the two. Surreal plot and imagery are fused together with filmic editing techniques to create fast moving theatre. I grew up acting in commercials, small dramas and doing radio work. Prior to becoming a professional movement artist, I obtained a first class honours degree in Science in 1981, and a commonwealth PhD scholarship. Subsequently, I then worked as a Research Fellow for Professor Peter Jarman and joined Kafui West African Dance & Music Ensemble. I co-authored two papers and gave scientific advice for the award winning film ‘Faces in the Mob’. I worked as a research assistant for Jarman through a BA(Dance). After graduating I worked as an independent dance artist, danced with Viola Da Gamba Dance, in the Adelaide and Sydney Fringe Festivals, and taught Pilates. I set-up my own Pilates gym with a partner in Sydney in 1996. In 1997 I spent a month in Solo, Indonesia improvising with a range of international dancers, including Suprapto Suryadama. I moved to London in  late 1997 to dance with Ground Effect Physical Theatre company in London and Europe. In 2000 I set up alKamie, an Intermedia Theatre company with Brian Curson . While with alKamie I returned to academic studies in 2003 to complete an MA (collaborative Arts) Dance, and since then has co-written various academic papers on al’Ka-mie’s practice as research art-work.  In 2010 I performed successfully  at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in alKamie’s (No) Living Room.

I love the bizarre, the quirky, and the surreal.

Robyn