DAVID NEUMANN | ADVANCED BEGINNER GROUP

Believing there’s always a valuable effort in bending our habitual gestures around new shapes, David Neumann / Advanced Beginner Group makes multidisciplinary dances from scratch, bringing to gesture, word and proximity a delighted embrace of our contradictory lives. ABG constructs irrational responses to our perceived place in the universe.

David Neumann (director / creator) / Advanced Beginner Group’s original work has been presented in New York at PS 122, New York Live Arts, The Kitchen, Central Park Summerstage (where he collaborated with John Giorno), Celebrate Brooklyn, Symphony Space (where he collaborated with Laurie Anderson), and The Whitney. ABG has also performed at the Walker Art Center, Alverno College, MASS MoCA, and the American Dance Institute, among others. Neumann was a performer for many years working with, among others, Mikhail Baryshnikov, Big Dance Theater, Doug Elkins, Doug Varone, and Sally Silvers. Recent projects include: Choreographer on ‘An Octoroon’ at Soho Rep/Theater for a New Audience, directing Geoff Sobelle in ‘The Object Lesson’ at BAM Fischer (Bessie Recipient for Outstanding Design, 2015), Futurity, co-produced by Soho Rep and Ars Nova, and Hagoromo with Wendy Whelan and Jock Soto at BAM. He is currently professor of theater at Sarah Lawrence College. Neumann is the recipient of three New York Dance and Performance “Bessie” Awards,  including most recently, two 2015 Bessie Awards for Outstanding Production and Outstanding Sound Design for I Understand Everything Better. Additionally, he’s received a Foundation for Contemporary Arts Award, an Asian Cultural Council Fellowship (Noh immersive), and support from the Rockefeller Foundation, Creative Capital, NYFA, and National Dance Projects, among others.

advancedbeginnergroup.org

PLEASE NOTE: In collaboration with the company, we have decided to postpone performances of David Neumann/Advanced Beginner Group’s I Understand Everything Better due to the recent loss of a festival venue. We will present the work as part of the 2017 festival instead, and are excited to welcome David as a guest of Fusebox this April.

There will be a number of opportunities during this year’s festival to meet David and learn about his work, including as part of a waffle chat on Friday April 8. We look forward to bringing the full company and this incredible work to Austin in April 2017.