Meet the APAP|NYC 2025 Works-in-Progress Pitch Session artists

PITCH 1
Artist: Christian Warner
Artist Company: GauDanse Inc.
Work: White Hot Room
Genre: Contemporary dance theatre
Website: christianawarner.com
Description: Drawing inspiration from Plato’s Allegory of the Cave, WHITE HOT ROOM explores the dissociative effects of long-held traumas within a body. Originally conceived in 2019 utilizing Warner’s personal experiences with addiction, loss, and mental wellness as source material, WHITE HOT ROOM belongs to a larger collection of movement-based work entitled “Letters To Bunney." Utilizing themes recognizable in the themes of afrofuturism, the room serves as a cocoon in which he reconciles with the traumatic binds of his past to move into an audacious unknown future. Most recently, this work has garnered creative development support from the Heinz Endowment.
Length: 30 minutes
Fees: $2,620 (including air travel and hotel)
Booking Contact: Natausha Gaudin, cbo@gaudanse.org

PITCH 2
Artist: Daniel Banks
Producing Organization: DNAWORKS
Producer: Cath Brittan
Work: The Secret Sharer
Genres: Dance-theatre, multidisciplinary
Website: dnaworks.org
Description: DNAWORKS is adapting Joseph Conrad’s 1909 novella The Secret Sharer into a devised, ensemble, multimedia performance. Considered an early Queer text, The Secret Sharer integrates dance, sound, text, and visual elements and will be performed in an open-concept space with audiences co-creating the environment and the narrative. In an extension of our community storycircle practice, audience members share their own stories during the performance, interspersed at critical moments in the narrative. In response to increases in bullying, murders, and suicides of LGBTQQ2SPIAA+ youth worldwide, The Secret Sharer offers intergenerational, Queer-centered spaces for resiliency and healing.
Length: 70 minutes plus community celebration (length of celebration TBD by each presenter)
Fees: $25,000 plus air travel and hotel for 7 people, plus costs of shipping of set design elements.
Booking Contact: Andrés Franco, andres@dnaworks.org

PITCH 3
Artist: Darian Dauchan
Producing Organization: DNAWORKS
Producer: Cath Brittan
Work: We The Messiah
Genre: Multidisciplinary
Website: dariandauchan.com
Description: We The Messiah is a Hip Hop remix and social justice reimagining of Handel’s Messiah in which three immortal MCs embark on an epic path to social change, facing power, passion, and persecution while holding on to the promise of a better future. A theatrical concert driven by verses, beatboxing, live looping, community voices, and classical music,  We The Messiah is a melodic ode to activism, a crescendo call for collective action, and an instrumental invitation to awaken “the Messiah” that lives in us all. The production features Darian Dauchan and Curtis Steward, and will be directed by Daniel Banks.
Length: 90 minutes, including a community storycircle
Fees: $39,500 plus air and hotel for 11 people
Booking Contact: Andrés Franco, andres@dnaworks.org

PITCH 4
Artist: Jake Broder
Artist Company: UnRavelled
Agent Name: Cath Brittan
Work: UnRavelled
Genres: Theater, music
Website: jakebroder.com
Pitch Presenters: Cath Brittan and Jake Broder
Description: UnRavelled, by Jake Broder, is a multi-media event marrying theater, live music, visual art and science and is the story of Dr Anne Adams, a Canadian biologist, who became obsessed with Maurice Ravel's Bolero while in the early stages of FrontoTemporal Degeneration, a progressive dementia. Anne painted his music, transforming into a profoundly skilled fine artist as her art developed along with her disease. Composed almost a century earlier, Ravel wrote Bolero while also suffering from FTD. UnRavelled is a performance about the mystery and nature of creativity, love and what makes us who we are.
Length: 1 hour and 30 minutes
Fees: $42,000 for up to 3 performances, plus travel, accommodations, and cost of shipping set design elements. Outreach Events surrounding the presentations is funded separately and will not add any additional costs.
Booking Contact: Cath Brittan, cathbrittan@yahoo.co.uk

PITCH 5
Artist: Kun-Yang Lin
Artist Company: Kun-Yang Lin/Dancers (KYL/D)
Work: Sangha

PITCH 6
Artist: Lynn Neuman
Artist Company: Artichoke Dance Company
Work: Moving the Rights of Rivers
Genre: Contemporary dance
Website: artichokedance.org
Pitch Presenter: Lynn Neuman
Description: Moving the Rights of Rivers is a movement-based performance taking place along rivers exemplifying their value and interconnected nature, celebrating them as national treasures. It brings people into contact with rivers through observation, stewardship and exploration, advocating for their health, and brings site-specific performances to their banks, reflecting the pliability of rivers and using movement to model the interdependency of natural systems as well as a co-created vision of the future this project aims to inspire. Moving the Rights of Rivers furthers Artichoke Dance Company’s eco-arts approach infused with advocacy, activism and community engagement.
Length: 60-75 minutes, depending upon the space and distance traveled. No intermission.
Fees: $35,000 for one week of engagement including the performance and a 2-3 day pre-engagement planning and site visit by the director plus travel and hotel.
Booking Contact: Lynn Neuman, lynn@artichokedance.org

PITCH 7
Artist: Manual Cinema
Work: The 4th Witch, inspired by Macbeth
Genres: Cinematic shadow puppetry with live music
Website: manualcinema.com
Pitch Presenters: Laura Colby and Kyle Vegter
Description: The 4th Witch is a full-length, coming of age story told through the eyes of a young girl, orphaned from war, who becomes apprenticed to the three witches. Consumed by grief and rage, the girl comes to realize it was Macbeth who killed her father – and that she must choose between reconciliation or vengeance. Told through shadow puppetry, actors in silhouette, and live music (without narration), Birnam Wood explores themes of war, generational conflict, and cycles of violence through the collateral damage left behind on the battleground. For ages 8+, 60-70 minutes, 10 people total in touring party.
Length: Approximately 60-70 minutes
Fees: Routed fees: $20,000 + housing (10 singles), plus $5,000 for each additional show
Booking Contact: Laura Colby, laurac@elsieman.org

PITCH 8
Artist: Maylee Todd
Artist Company: Virtual Womb 
Work: The Mouth of Madness
Agency/Management: Virtual Womb
Genres: Music, dance, video, installation
Website: linktr.ee/mayleetodd
Pitch Presenter: Maylee Todd
Description: This one-woman show is a bold, immersive multimedia performance combining live music, video projections, satire, and comedic moments. With a powerful mix of disco, punk, and industrial sounds, the performance explores mental health, women’s societal expectations, Asian queer identity, and ageism. Between songs, satirical vignettes and animations dive into the show’s themes with wit and dark humor. The set design features an inflatable mouth symbolizing the vulva and voice, while projections include interactive elements like QR codes. Through a blend of music, visual art, and comedy, the show challenges cultural norms and celebrates empowerment, resilience, and diversity.
Length: 1 hour
Fees: $25,000
Booking Contact: Maylee Todd, maylee.todd@gmail.com

PITCH 9
Artist: Melecio Estrella
Artist Company: BANDALOOP
Work: FLOCK
Genre: Vertical dance
Website: bandaloop.org
Pitch Presenter: Melecio Estrella
Description: FLOCK is a vertical dance theater performance expressing a magic-realism story of a colorful child traveling across a precarious sky as both bird and human, surrounded by the love and protection of a familial flock. Creative development of the work will form from choreographic research into avian flocking behaviors and personal and community migration story-sharing. Performed high above the ground on the side of a building, FLOCK brings together vertical dance, multilingual music, and stunning visuals into an a one-of-a-kind, site-responsive live performance experience in honor of migrating children and families.
Length: 45 minutes
Fees: Single performance artist fee $55,000; weekly residency artist fee $75,000 (host also provides travel, accommodations, local ground, hospitality, local AV production and production personnel, location, and location-related costs).
Booking Contact: Melecio Estrella, melecio@bandaloop.org

PITCH 10
Artist: Michael Sakamoto
Artist Company: Michael Sakamoto and Paul D. Miller (a.k.a. DJ Spooky)
Work: time/life/beauty
Genres: Dance theater, new music, multimedia
Website: michaelsakamoto.org
Pitch Presenters: Michael Sakamoto
Description: Intersecting butoh dance theater, hip-hop mixology, new music and media art, “time/ life/beauty” is inspired by the intercultural, socially-engaged legacy of musician-activist Ryuichi Sakamoto (1952-2023). Mining the variety and excitement of Ryuichi’s music, collaborations and environmental and anti-war commitments, we remix and reimagine his compositions as diverse dance/music/media experiences that cross artistic, cultural and social borders. How do communities create shared languages? How does human behavior influence ecologies small and large? What is the relationship between community, place and environment? In this moment of widespread social divisions lacking dialogue and compassion, we aspire to performance as a benevolent intercultural commons.
Length: 60-90 minutes (different lengths available)
Fees: $20,000 plus hotel, per diem and travel 4-7 people
Booking Contact: Michael Sakamoto, michaelsakamoto1@gmail.com

PITCH 11
Artist: Robin Frohardt
Work: Home Depot Parking Lot
Agency/Management: Pomegranate Arts
Genres: Multidisciplinary (theater, oratory, puppetry, film)
Website: robinfrohardt.com
Pitch Presenters: Robin Frohardt and Alisa Regas
Description: Home Depot Parking Lot (working title) is a live performance that blends live puppetry and music, animation on film, rich projection design, and an original and personal prose narrative. With intricate handmade cardboard sets this speculative non-fiction piece, grounded in reality yet deeply reflective, offers a poetic meditation on our relationship with the natural world.
Length: 1 hour (no intermission)
Fees: $25,000 for one performance; $45,000 USD for two performances; $65,000 USD for a week including 3-5 performances (all scenarios are plus hotel and local ground transportation for all touring party members, and tech rider requirements)
Booking Contact: Alisa Regas, alisa@pomarts.com

PITCH 12
Artists: So Percussion and Olivier Tarpaga
Work: Tarpaga Dance Project & So Percussion
Agency/Management: Alliance Artist Management
Genres: Contemporary dance, music
Website: sopercussion.com
Pitch Presenters: Jason Treuting and Olivier Tarpaga
Description: Burkina Faso Composer & choreographer Olivier Tarpaga's recent debut run at The Joyce (October 2023) coincided with the world premier of his composition FéFé written for and performed with So Percussion at Carnegie Hall.
Length: 75 minutes (no intermission)
Fees: $24,000 plus travel and hotel for up to 16 people
Booking Contact: Rob Robbins, rob@allianceartistmanagement.com

PITCH 13
Artist: Tyra Jackson Ike-Asogwa
Artist Company: INNERGY Inc.
Work: INNERGY WEEK
Genre: Contemporary modern dance
Website: innergydance.com
Pitch Presenters: Tyra Jackson Ike-Asogwa and Alicia Nicole Thompson
Description:
INNERGY Week is an immersive dance experience that seeks to diversify dance techniques and provide equitable access to the arts. This experience will guide audiences to broaden their exposure in celebrating the culturally diverse art forms of the African Diaspora.
Length: 1 hour 30 minutes (performance); 60 minutes (master dance class/wellness classes); 7.5 hours (day intensive)
Fees: Performance fee $20,000; Master Dance Class fee $5,000; Dance Intensive Fee $10, 000 (Plus air, travel, and hotel for 11 people, plus costs of shipping of set design elements)
Booking Contact: Tyra Jackson Ike-Asogwa, innergyinc@gmail.com

PITCH 14
Artist: Versa-Style Street Dance Company
Work: Tribute: Guardians of Street Dance
Genres: Dance, Hip Hop
Website: versastyledance.org
Pitch Presenters: Brandon Juezan and Jackie Lopez
Description: Versa-Style’s latest full length work will honor the company’s 20 year anniversary as a Hip Hop and street dance ensemble by paying homage to our artistic journey as it weaves through influential figures, cultural movements and community growth. Shining a spotlight on West Coast Hip Hop and the street dance styles that originated in the L.A. area, the multidisciplinary work will be uplifting and energetic, yet intimate and intentional. Tribute will also honor Hip Hop and street dance artists who are still with us today as well as those who have passed on.
Length: 1 hour, 5 minutes (plus 15 minute intermission)
Fees: $28,000 all inclusive
Booking Contact: Sandy Garcia, sandyg@pentacle.org