Out There 20: David Neumann and the Advanced Beginners Group

The Super Bowl, that annual commercial fest with a few football plays thrown in for tradition's sake, will kick off on February 3. So perhaps it's only fitting that the Walker Art Center invited New York choreographer David Neumann to close out the Out There series. "Feed Forward," performed by his advanced beginner group, translates elements of athleticism to the stage, referencing the physicality of aggression and the mind's relationship to time. Sounds like heady stuff—and sometimes it is—but more often than not Neumann, who has a sharp wit honed by his work with, among others, Doug Elkins, Laurie Anderson, Anne Bogart, and club legend Willi Ninja, successfully uncovers the absurdity in sports drama while also offering up meditations on its beauty. Football, baseball, tennis, track, and ice skating are all referenced, as are the fights and psychological meltdowns, but since Neumann's making the (metaphorical) leap from playing field to theater, the sports allusions tend to surrender quickly to flights of the imagination, oversized mascots, and world-class non-sequiturs.
Jan. 31-Feb. 2, 8 p.m., 2008