TOPAZ ARTS, Inc.
is a 501(c)(3)
nonprofit charitable organization.
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"intelligently conceived, image-filled dance" - The New York Times TOPAZ ARTS Dance Productions explores the work of composer Todd Richmond and choreographer Paz Tanjuaquio whose collaborations integrate dance and new music with film, visual arts and technology. A seamless collaboration of movement and images, dances by TOPAZ ARTS immerse the audience in a visceral world, creating kinetic environments that transport the viewer to an imaginative place.
download TOPAZ ARTS press kit > past works > click on image to view video clip
Thunder
Against 1.2.3. (2005) Evening-length
dance works by TOPAZ ARTS include: Dance
films by TOPAZ ARTS include: Collaborators since 1993, the work of composer Todd Richmondand choreographer Paz Tanjuaquio have been presented in New York at such venues as the 92Y Harkness Dance Festival, Danspace Project, Performance Space 122, La MaMa, Dance Theater Workshop’s Fresh Tracks Series, Movement Research at Judson Church, Thelma Hill Performing Arts, Aaron Davis Hall, Symphony Space, Dixon Place, Joyce SoHo Presents; and nationally at Godt-Cleary Projects in Las Vegas, Philadelphia Fringe Festival, Ohio University, and The Yard at Martha's Vineyard. Recent awards include the National Endowment for the Arts, Meet the Composer Commissioning/USA, NYC Dept. of Cultural Affairs, Asian American Arts Alliance and New York Foundation for the Arts BUILD/Homer Avila Memorial Award.
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> details on upcoming performance
The Divide Exploring spatial boundaries, this work was inspired by a soft border that once existed between the U.S. and Mexico on the Rio Grande at Big Bend National Park. In this new work-in-progress, a silver river separates the space as two dancers explore the terrain, creating a minimalist metaphor for similarities and differences across cultural divides. This work was developed, in part, during a dance residency at Kaatsbaan in Tivoli, NY, its title originated from a photograph by Greg M. Stowell "The Divide".
on
the other side of silence Based on “Soundless Music” a 1952 manuscript by Yoko Ono, the dance draws inspiration from whimsical imagery of distorted environments and infinite space, exploring movement ideas of imbalance, investigating the shift of space and finding lucidity in uncertainty. The large-scale work offers an intimate experience, creating participatory environments for the audience in TOPAZ ARTS’ gallery. The performance features SILENCE (2006), accompanied with a 16mm black and white dance film, and a prelude by special guest Molissa Fenley has been commissioned to choreograph a new solo to John Cage’s silent score “4:33” to be performed by Tanjuaquio. Followed by the premiere of on the other side of silenceculminating in an ensemble that weaves dance throughout the entire space. In development since 2006, Tanjuaquio and Richmond have conducted artistic research travel – from Hiroshima & Nagasaki, Japan to desert terrain & nuclear test sites in the U.S. West Coast – creating new choreography, music and dance on film, rendering dancers amidst the expanse of isolated landscapes, balancing on alternating surfaces and skewing the sense of scale & gravity.
Funding for the development and creation of the work has been awarded by the National Endowment for the Arts, Meet the Composer Commissioning/USA, NYC Department of Cultural Affairs.
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