Assembly LVII : The Performing Arts at Yale
Executive Summary
Breakout Sessions: Artists at Work

After the morning plenary, delegates spread out around campus to attend one of four breakout sessions to see artists at work.

Conducting workshop with Lawrence Leighton Smith, professor and conductor in residence.
Delegates were given a demonstration on the finer points of conducting. Batons were handed out and each delegate learned how to hold and move the batons. Eventually, they were able to accompany a video of Professor Smith conducting the last movement of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony with the Louisville Symphony.


Digital Music with Professor Matthew Suttor from the Department of Music and Tim Acito, a student playwright in the Drama School. The presenters gave a demonstration on the making of "The Ankle Diver.” The play is inspired by Japanese Noh Theater and will feature two performers who will be joined by life-size digital images on three stage screens. The images will be rendered in synchronization with the live dancers and music to give the appearance of there being up to a dozen performers on the stage. The music is digitally composed and rendered in a real-time format, rather than a playback of pre-recorded music. "The Ankle Diver" is scheduled to be performed Nov. 14-16 in the New Theatre at the Holcombe T. Greene, Jr. Arts Building. For more information, see
http://www.yale.edu/opa/v28.n32/story18.html
http://www.yale.edu/opa/v29.n5/story19.html

Dance Choreography with Nadine George-Graves and the Yale Dancers. Professor Graves-George started the demonstration by putting the students through various exercises. She gave the students sets of “rules” by which they were to dance. For example, she asked the dancers to pretend that they were inside a box and then to paint the wall with one hand, then with both hands, then with their hips, and then their head. Delegates were then asked to write sets of rules on notecards and the students set them to dance. The students’ creative expression of dance within these arbitrary boundaries inspire Graves-George’s choreography. The choreography exercises were followed by individual performances by the dancers.

Scene rehearsal with students and Professor Murray Biggs. Scene rehearsals alternated between Othello and A Street Car Named Desire. Professor Biggs instructed the undergraduates, directing them as they repeated scenes until they achieved certain objectives. Professor Biggs provided general background information to the audience about the characters, play, playwright, scene, and acting.