>> music
>> nat sound of performers: So, let your hair down. Now leave your fears at the door for the time is now. It’s 2005! The rhythm is still alive…
Ryan: Zaza Big Easy is a choreography-led, immersive, percussive dance musical that focuses on using African diasporic, percussive dance, west African contemporary partnering, to narrate oral histories of Hurricane Katrina.
>> nat sound of performers: 90% of New Orleans is submerged underwater.
Ryan: New Orleans East still very much looks like Katrina just happened, and we're entering the 20th anniversary this August.
>> nat sound of performers: Our homes, our communities, our families...
Claire: But we’re not in New Orleans. We’re in Manhattan, and the year is 2025. We’re at the APAP|NYC Conference, where artists, agents, and presenters gather every year to shape the future of the performing arts.
>> music
Claire: You’re listening to ARTS. WORK. LIFE, a podcast from the Association of Performing Arts Professionals. I’m Claire Caulfield.
Every January, thousands of arts professionals descend on New York City for APAP|NYC—the conference of the Association of Performing Arts Professionals. And in this surprise bonus episode, we’re going to share stories from APAP’s most recent conference.
Registration for the 2026 event is underway, so we’re taking you behind the scenes of last year’s APAP|NYC—shadowing three people who keep the performing arts ecosystem in motion:
A choreographer premiering his latest work,
A presenter scouting talent for his season,
and an agent/artist manager putting it all together.
>> music
Claire: The day starts early for Ryan K. Johnson, Executive Artistic Director of SOLE Defined, a percussive dance company based in Washington, D.C.
>> nat sound of breakfast in hotel
Claire: What does your pre show routine look like
Ryan: Well, first it's starting with breakfast. *laugh* First it's starting with breakfast, and then it's always a review of choreography and setting intentions for the way in which I want to relay the story that's been placed on us.
Claire: SOLE Defined is presenting a 17-minute percussive dance piece about Hurricane Katrina this afternoon.
At APAP, hundreds of showcases happen across Manhattan—from small hotel ballrooms to grand stages. It’s where companies like SOLE Defined get their shot in front of hundreds of potential bookers.
Ryan: I'm hoping today I'm extremely busy speaking to presenters post-showcase.
Claire: Ryan and his co-founder Quynn Johnson are showcasing their piece at New York City Center, a five-story studio space a few blocks from the conference hotel.
>> nat sound of tap dancing
Claire: After breakfast, they begin preparing the space for the show.
Quynn: And currently we are taping down a floor, so the floor is essential for percussive dancers. So, um, it helps us to amplify our sound and make sure you hear everything that we're saying with our feet.
Claire: On any given floor, multiple companies are performing—contemporary dance, classical ballet, jazz ensembles, puppetry, even circus acts.
>>nat pop of different performances
Claire: And weaving his way through all of these spaces is Aaron Shackelford, Director of Programming for Duke Arts, and he’s on the lookout for new artists.
Aaron: We're basically done with next season, so I'm not meeting to book a show for next year necessarily. I’m meeting to have conversations that maybe will bear fruit in three or four years.
So yeah, setting up your APAP calendar is the biggest, like time-consuming part of, at least for me 'cause there's so many places to be and I'm always trying to strike that balance of seeing new work, going the sessions, and then having these meetings.
You just, you have to triage, you know, you can't have FOMO here.
Claire: After checking out some of the morning showcases, Aaron and I walk back to the conference hotel.
Do you feel kind of like the belle of the ball almost, because people are all coming...*Aaron laughs* Right? Like artists wanna be be booked. Agents wanna get their artists booked and like you hold the keys.
Aaron: I, yeah, I mean, I think it's. Like, we're incredibly privileged to have these positions and these opportunities to be one of those voices.
You know, I get probably close to a hundred emails over the course of a week, every week leading up to APAP.
Claire: Wow.
Aaron: You know, that's on top of my actual job.
But yeah, to answer your question, everybody wants our attention and because that's the reality of the industry.
>> nat sound of EXPO Hall
Aaron: So now we are, uh, diving into the maelstrom. So we're gonna meet my colleague Cheryl.
Um, this is her first APAP so it's like you can't do APAP without doing an EXPO Hall adventure. So we're gonna go have a series of meetings with, uh, some agents, uh, here in the, in the EXPO Hall.
Claire: The EXPO is APAP’s heartbeat. Hundreds of booths line the carpeted halls—filled with posters, presentations, and endless conversation.
One of those booths belongs to Danielle Devlin of Canis Major Music; she’s an agent representing touring musicians from around the world.
Danielle: So far this year it has been markedly different, and then I'm actually getting real date holds and even offers.
Claire: Wow.
Danielle: Which is unusual for me because I work with such niche artists, and they're international, and so if the touring is a heavier lift, and you're usually working further out, but I'm able to like add a date here or there to existing tours. So that's been wonderful.
Claire: Oh my gosh, just in the last two days?
Danielle: Yeah, just in the last two days. I mean, having an EXPO booth is, I'd say pretty necessary. because you get people that just come by, they maybe have a meeting with somebody else, and they're like, “Oh yeah, I had wanted to talk with you, too.”
Claire: By mid-afternoon, both Aaron and Danielle are deep in meetings.
Agent in EXPO Hall: Would you let you know we are showcasing tonight if you can make it. If you can't make it, no worries.
Aaron: I will not be able to make it, but uh
Agent in EXPO Hall: That's okay…
Aaron: Uh, but I said definitely like my email...
Agent in EXPO Hall: I'll shoot you, I'll shoot you email, send you a note...
Claire: After a few connections, Aaron slips away to the ballroom, where he’s speaking on a panel about trends in live performance.
Aaron: Good morning, everyone. Thank you so much for, for joining us. we're here to, to have a conversation on collective approaches to programming.
>>fade down
Claire: Meanwhile, back at City Center, Ryan and his dancers are about to take the stage.
Ryan: Good afternoon. Thank you for joining us. …I'm a choreographer and this is what I made **applause** Let’s go!
>> nat sound of dancing and music *applause*
Claire: The performance ends in applause. Ryan and Quynn walk into the audience to shake hands, exchange business cards and, hopefully, set up meetings.
Ryan: I think we, we blew the roof off of, uh, off of Studio five at City Center. Um, we got a great response.
I think it's important for people who come to APAP or are engaging with presenters to understand that conversations are long. You're not gonna showcase and get a instant booking.
And if you get an instant book, that's amazing but I'm, I'm simply thankful that there, there were a lot, a lot of conversations with presenters that could almost create some block bookings and were already thinking about funding streams and so yeah, I think the, the seeds have been planted.
Claire: In the evening as Ryan and Quynn are taking meetings with presenters, Danielle is racing downtown to The Public Theater—where one of her artists is showcasing tonight.
Danielle: I'm very excited though that it's a full house, and he's already on stage performing now. And so it’ll be great to get a feel for the room and see how things…
I hear some audience clapping, so that's fun to hear. *laughs*
That's why APAP is, is a special place.
The pace of it, the volume of both activities and opportunities. But also it's like people are wrapping up their booking season by the timing of this conference being when it is. So a lot of people are shopping for the long haul and then at the same time maybe looking for a very specific thing to round out their season.
>> nat sound from the Public Theater lobby
Claire: As the show wraps up at the Public Theater, Danielle and I hop into a cab because she has yet another artist showcasing back at the hotel
Danielle: Just exiting a show and heading to another one. *laughs*
>> nat sound transitioning from car to hotel
Danielle: And ah, let's see... Oh, she's singing still. Let's go.
>> nat sound of singing *applause*
Artist: Um, if you're liking what you're seeing, we are represented by Danielle Devlin. Woo, Danielle. She's right there.
And, uh, she's gonna be around after. We're also gonna be around afterward. And we look forward to, to chatting with you.
>>musicians playing: “On the road again Just can't wait to get on the road again. The life I love is making music with my friends. And I can’t wait to get on the road again.”
Claire: From the Hilton New York Midtown to City Center to the Public Theater—APAP is a world within a weekend. It’s the rhythm, ambition, and connection that keep the performing arts alive.
>>musicians playing: “On the road again. Like a band of gypsies, we go down the highway."
Claire: You can join APAP and register for APAP|NYC—taking place from January 9th to 13th, 2026—at A-P-A-P-3-6-5-dot-o-r-g.
>>musicians playing: "I can't wait to get on the road again. I can't wait to get on the road again. I can't wait to get on the road again."
