New York China town's Columbus Park Pavillion was fenced off for a long period of time. In 1996 Tai Dang wrote a proposal to reopen the park's pavilion to create a dance theater performance project with a generous grant from Dancing In The Street and permission from NYC Park Tai Dang transform this space to a grand theatrical performance.
The park has a significant historical background:
Columbus Park, formerly known as Mulberry Bend Park, Five Points Park, and Paradise Park . During the 19th century, this was the most dangerous ghetto area of immigrant New York as portrayed in the book and film Gangs of New York. Back then, the park's site was part of the Five Points neighborhood, in the area known as Mulberry Bend, hence its alternative names. It was renamed Columbus Park in 1911. After Tai Dang successful performance many community organizations began to advocate for a safe and clean park that can adequately serve our kids, seniors and the general public in our community. In 2005 NYC mayor Micheal Bloomberg donate 1 million to remodel Columbus Park. Today, the park often serves as a gathering place for the local Chinese community, where "the neighborhood meets up here to play mahjong, perform traditional Chinese music... practice tai chi in the early mornings."
a site-specific performance
taidang©2025 alright reserved
HAVE RED EVER GREEN NYC 1996
Conceived, choreographed and Directed by Tai Dang
TANGLE
a site-specific performance
The Elevated Acre at 55 Water Street NYC 2006
Conceived, choreographed and Directed by Tai Dang
The park, built in 2005, sits on top of a parking garage and is sandwiched in between two FiDi office buildings on Water Street. It's not far from the much more famous Battery Park, where tourist ferries depart for the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island. The design for this elevated plaza transforms a barren, windswept deck into a vibrant, multi-programmed and accessible public park and ties into the green necklace in lower Manhattan.
TANGLE project was funded by Grants for Art in Public Space from Lower Manhattan Cultural Council with generous support of The September 11th Fund.
Tai Dang created a dance theater performance with live music, poetry and transformed this outdoor space to a theatrical landscape
taidang©2025 alright reserved
a performance
Conceived, choreographed and Directed by Tai Dang
NOW
AND
THEN
YOU
PUT
YOUR
HAND
OVER
is a memory dance of continually shifting images rooted in poems by Christian Langworthy. The wonderfully suggestive central poetic image is a mango ripening slowly in a closed earthenware jar.
taidang©2025 alright reserved
a performance
RE...
to be continued
conceived and performed
by tai dang
Tai Dang's art is often striking and beautiful
san Jose Mercury News
Theme of repetition
"RE" is the prefix for repetition and the 65 minute work, inspired by passages from the"Tibetan Book of the Dead", is a chain of images of renewal, rejuvenation and reproduction - all ideas contained within the larger concept of reincarnation.Its message began before the performance.
taidang©2025 alright reserved
a site- specific performance
Chronically Here
Constructed in 1849, the synagogue was the largest synagogue in the country at the time. However, after World War II the Jewish population in the neighborhood dropped off, and the synagogue closed in the 20th century.
It is likely the gorgeous building would have been demolished if not for Jewish Spanish sculptor Angel Orensanz who converted it into a studio and gallery space in 1986. The space then become an abandoned building, a historic synagogue, from the wrecking ball. They transformed it into a well-loved cultural and event space in the neighborhood. The space was also home to the soul of New York. The space was also used for events and fundraisers by local nonprofits, such as the Lower Eastside Girls Club, the Little Missionary’s Day Nursery and the Acker Awards for avant-garde and underground artists.
In 1994 since the old synagogue has not been reconstruction and inspire of an old historical space Tai Dang creates a theater performance base on survival with text by Jeffery Goldsmith “ the survival lessons “
Survival lesson 3: Lili in the lake: "The lilies double in number every day, on the hundred days the lake is full of lilies and the lake is dead"
Survival lesson 4: Better living through chemistry: "This seems oxymoron like jumbo shrimp or hot ice. Yes, at first glance chemistry seems to have nothing to do with living however your body is a collection of the molecule"
It’s now the oldest surviving synagogue in New York City, and later on the Angel Orensanz Foundation regularly hosts art exhibitions and events, including concerts from the likes of Philip Glass and Lou Reed, and even hosted the first fashion show in the United States from Alexander McQueen. it’s also become home to the annual Women’s Travel Festival, a great way to spend a nice long time inside admiring its splendor.
