Robert Lewis

Teaching and Research Staff

Dr Robert Lewis

BPA (UTAS), BA Hons (Monash), Grad Dip Dramatic Art (Voice Studies) (NIDA), Grad Dip Ed (Secondary) (RMIT), PhD (UTAS)

Lecturer in Performing Arts

Dr Robert Lewis is a Course Director and Lecturer in Performing Arts at the School of Social Work and Arts. His main areas of teaching are voice, movement and directing for theatre. Robert previously lectured in the Theatre Program at the University of Tasmania. His PhD focused on intercultural and physio-vocal performance training aesthetics. He is a director, theatre maker and voice and movement teacher who trained with Cicely Berry, Frankie Armstrong, Rowena Balos, Mike Alfreds as well as Butoh with Yoshito Ohno in Japan. Robert has published theatre performances and training films through Contemporary Arts Media (Artfilms) and has also published widely on the subject of integrative practices and physiovocality. He is also a Certified Integrative Practitioner from the One Voice Centre, New York, and is also the founder and convenor of AusAact: The Australian Actor Training Conference, which was first held at Charles Sturt in 2018.

  • Voice and Movement Studies
  • Classical Performance and Production
  • Contemporary Performance and Production
  • Experimental and Applied Theatre

Robert's research interests and projects include:

Persona Collective

Persona Collective is an ensemble of artists who explore intercultural, interdisciplinary, transdisciplinary, and integrative practices in order to create new ways if working. The company situates itself in the realms of performance, media and visual arts to create new and reimagined classical, new, or established theatrical works. Persona's ongoing investigation is to explore the synthesis of performance, technology, immediacy and space. Persona are committed to:

  • exploring an eclectic range of actor training methods, with a strong emphasis on design, technology and   performance making;
  • creating new works using improvisation as key performance-making tools;
  • adapting and reimagining established works through the process of performance making and technology;
  • developing an ensemble of performers: dancers, singers, actors, theatre makers to work in a collaborative environment;
  • research through laboratory style training and workshop sessions;
  • performing works in theatrical and non-theatrical spaces.

Deep Muscles, Deeper Understanding

The primary aim of this study is to determine differences between trained and untrained performers in abdominal muscle recruitment as determined by Real Time Ultra Sound (RTUS) during different vocalisation tasks. The secondary aim is to determine the impact of a short duration workshop on performance of abdominal muscles during vocalisation in an untrained performer.

Other

  • Intercultural performance training practices
  • Integrative practices (voice and movement integration)
  • Site specific and immersive theatre training and performance
  • Laban Movement System and voice integration
  • Suzuki Actor Training Method

Robert is a member of the International Federation of Theatre Research (Theatre and Architecture Working Group), the Australasian Association for Theatre, Drama and Performance Studies and the Voice and Speech Trainers Association.