Yale Bulletin and Calendar

October 27, 2000

Volume 29, Number 8

DMCA presents debuts of
'Convergence' and 'Ankle-Diver'

Two projects sponsored by the Digital Media Center for the Arts (DMCA) will debut this week.

The DMCA and the International Festival of Arts & Ideas are sponsoring the premiere of a new documentary by Elihu Rubin and Elena Oxman, titled "Convergence and Other Rituals of the New Haven Green." There will be screenings at 4 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 28, and at noon and 10:30 p.m. on Sunday, Oct. 29, at the York Square Cinema, 61 Broadway. All three screenings are open to the public free of charge.

The film explores the use of the New Haven Green from a marketplace in the 17th century to its current venue as a stage for public events. It includes commentaries from Yale architectural historian Vincent Scully, former New Haven Mayor Richard C. Lee, historian Richard Hegel, and C. Newton Schenck III, chair of the Proprietors of the New Haven Green. The documentary interlaces the history of the New Haven Green with the unfolding of the premiere performance of composer Neely Bruce's "Convergence," a cacophonous collision of parade instruments, at last summer's International Festival of Arts and Ideas.

"Convergence" is the second New Haven-based production for Rubin and Oxman, who founded their production company, American Beat, in the spring of 1999. The two used Emerging Artist Grants from DMCA to produce the documentary "On Broadway: a New Haven Streetscape," which premiered in April and was included as a special feature at Film Fest New Haven. "On Broadway' has subsequently aired on CPTV. Continuing their work with the DMCA, Rubin and Oxman spent the summer filming "Convergence," and this fall have worked with the DMCA's media director, Lee Faulkner, editing the piece. Rubin and Oxman, both Yale graduates, are currently associate fellows of the DMCA.

'Ankle-Diver'

This week there will be two talks about "Ankle-Diver," a performance piece by Department of Music faculty member Matthew Suttor. The first lecture on Friday, Oct. 27, will be open only to visiting Yale alumni. The second presentation will take place at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, Nov. 1, at the DMCA, 149 York St. That talk, which will include a demonstration of the work, is open to the public as part of the DMCA's Electronic Currents Lecture Series.

Suttor received a DMCA Special Project Grant to develop this work. He is collaborating with School of Drama student Timothy Acito. "Ankle-Diver" combines narration, song, dance and interactive media. When complete, the performance will feature interactive video sets and backdrops that combine both live and real-time images. In the Oct. 27 and Nov. 1 lectures, Suttor will discuss the new technologies being employed, including experimental cross-platform networking and a specialized software that he developed for the project. Performances of the finished work will be staged in December in the theater facility of the new Holcombe T. Greene Arts Building.

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