Primer for an Impossible Conversation

Hyung Seok Jeon (guest appearance) is a South Korean multi-disciplinary theatre artist based in NYC. He also works as a videographer, film-editor. In 2014, Jeon’s video work, including his short film Autumn (2014), was installed by the artistic director Robert Wilson at the Watermill Center Annual Benefit. In 2016, he performed in a dance puppetry piece, Tough the Tough (Redux: Steve), directed by David Neumann. In 2017, he created and performed in How a River Carries You as a part of Puppet Blok 2017 at Dixon Place. 2018, he created and performed a solo piece A Held Posture at Theatre Lab, a meditation on generational loss in relation to the sensation of sinking into deep water. He is a recipient of a 2015 Fulbright graduate study award. He graduated from Sarah Lawrence College in 2017 with an MFA in Theatre. 

Julius Powell / Julie J (guest appearance) is a New York City based performer, writer, and drag artist. They have performed in various theaters in New York City including Ensemble Studio Theater, TADA Theater, The Dixon Place, The Secret Theater, Hudson Guild Theater, and The Acorn Theater (Off-Broadway) and Abrons Arts Center. Internationally they have performed at Spazio ZUT!, La Mama Umbria, and in the 2019 Prague Fringe Festival. Julius’ created work focuses on cultural insertion, relationships between history and identity, and the tactics of escape utilized by marginalized bodies. They are currently developing work that combines drag performance, dance, and experimental modes of storytelling. They are a graduate of Sarah Lawrence College and have studied at Upright Citizens Brigade and La Mama Umbria’s Directors Symposium.  In January 2021 their episodic drag show FAULTY DEFENSE MECHANISMS premiered in the digital ether, or in layman’s terms, on YouTube. More information on their work can be found at juliejnyc.com and on various social media platforms @juliej.nyc 

Boo Froebel (producer) is an independent producer, curator & creative consultant, currently general manager for Tamizdat; consultant for Bloomberg Philanthropies’ AIM/Arts Innovation & Management program; and producer for David Neumann & Marcella Murray’s projects for Advanced Beginner Group (Distances Smaller Than This Are Not Confirmed (2020 OBIE Award) and Primer for an Impossible Conversation).  

Previously, Froebel served as producer of Lincoln Center Festival and The Onassis Festival; executive producer of the Imagine Festival of Arts, Issues & Ideas (OBIE Award); curator/producer of live art at The Whitney Museum; and artistic director of Galapagos Art Space (OBIE Award). Froebel has nominated, evaluated, and served on panels for foundations and cultural councils including Creative Capital, the CalArts Alpert Award, US Artists International, Foundation for Contemporary Arts, the Lambent Foundation, the French Cultural Services, and the MAP Fund. She is a member of The Blacksmiths collective, and sits on the boards of Movement Research and The Poetry Project. 

Advanced Beginner Group (ABG) is a collection of artists across many disciplines and approaches that come together for specific performance projects such as Distances Smaller Than This Are Not Confirmed (winner Obie Award), I Understand Everything Better (winner, Bessie- Award), and Big Eater. Advanced Beginner Group makes work that is at its core an irrational response to our perceived place in the universe. Advanced Beginner Group makes pieces from scratch, bringing to word, action, and proximity a delighted embrace of our contradictory lives. Words and actions can only point to experience. The collection of artists actively attempts to create experiences that are difficult to describe. ABG’s most recent work Distances Smaller Than This Are Not Confirmed premiered in January 2020, co-created by David Neumann and Marcella Murray, co-commissioned and co-presented by Abrons Arts Center and the Chocolate Factory Theater, and associate-produced by Mabou Mines. www.advancedbeginnergroup.org