We were lucky to catch up with Mcclaine Timmerman recently and have shared our conversation below.

McClaine, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today We’d love to hear about a project that you’ve worked on that’s meant a lot to you.

As the Founder and Artistic Director of the Contemporary Dance Choreography Festival in Orlando, FL, I strive to continue to present meaningful work from global choreographers who have something important to say.

This year will be CDC Fest’s 6th year as a growing professional festival that provides a weekend of opportunities for local and traveling dancers and choreographers.

This year CDC Fest is hosting a guest choreographer who will be setting a new integrative work on both dancers with disabilities and without. Morgan Joanne Grube, our 2025 guest choreographer will host an audition open to all festival participants and dance community of Orlando and select dancers who will stay all day to create and learn the opening number of the festival performance on Sunday, June 22nd at 7:30pm. The purpose of this work is to build a professional piece of choreography that can be accessible to dancers with hidden or visible disabilities/sesitivities and integrate other dancers without disabilities/sesitivities to build strong relationships and a meaningful message to the audience. Anyone can dance, and dancers do not all have to check the same boxes to move their body and create art.

There will be dancers with hearing and vision disabilities, chaired dancers (wheelchairs), and dancers who have other disabilities that can not be seen. They will come together to create, sweat, grow, network, and present something to Orlando dance audiences that has never been seen before.

This is important and meaningful to me because CDC Fest is not only creating a space for contemporary dancers to come together for a weekend of dance opportunities, networking and performance, but also breaking down barriers of what dance has to be and look like. My mission is to offer opportunities for dance makers and dancers to come together as well as continuing to grow the Orlando dance audiences and their awareness of how impactful art is in their community.

McClaine, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I created the Contemporary Dance Choreography Festival to provide a space for dance makers to have their voices be hear and their work be seen. I also strive to continue building Orlando dance audiences and community within the festival in hopes to keep dance and art alive and thriving in our great city!

As we prepare to receive submissions from dance makers around the U.S. I am most proud of the growth within the festival and community of dancers, choreographers, and supporters. The festival has grown from a single evening performance to a 3 day event with private rehearsals with the Artistic Director, audition for the opening number of the show with the guest choreographer, 6 Master Classes, luncheon, tech rehearsals and performance with a reception.

This festival is a space for dancers to come together in a non competitive atmosphere to dance and grow together, network, and perform! I bring in extarodinary teachers and choreographers to shed their knowledge and energy and as ever evolving team we have created quite the positive, energetic, and supportive dance festival community!

Opportunities:
Audition with Guest Choreographer for opening number of the show
3 Master Classes
Option to be in Artistic Directors work
Performance
Networking

My goal is to not only build the community of dancers in the festival but to continue offering a platform for dance makers to present their work who have something important to say!

For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?

The most rewarding aspect of being an artist in the dance/performance world for me is offering opportunity for others. It was my main goal in creating my festival, CDC Fest, to provide a platform for other artists/dance makers to have their voices heard and work seen. That goal has morphed into my main mission on a grander scale for local and global dance makers and dancers alike to be able to come together for a weekend of non competitive, creative and high positive energy atmosphere of dance for a 3 day festival.
Equally, to be a part of the growth of our cities awareness of dance and the power of art in a community is extremely rewarding although difficult. It is difficult to cultivate new audience members in a city where most professional dance is seen at the theme parks, on tv, or at the ballet. However, it brings me pride to be a part of this city, the art world and community, and to be providing opportunities to dancers around the world.

What can society do to ensure an environment that’s helpful to artists and creatives?

Get out there and try something new! Go see the orchestra play a Holiday show, take your family or a friend to see the Nutcracker for the first time, go see a musical or broadway and ask yourself how you feel after! Go support a friend who is an artist and sends out an invite to a local event or venue.
Art is one of the most fundamental elements of a thriving society and community. There is so much art all around us, and sometimes what people forget is that without them (artists) the world would not be as beautiful.

Imagine not having music. Imagine not being able to lose yourself in your favorite band or song and let it move your body around without a second thought. Imagine there being no art hanging around your house, local restaurants, etc. Imagine your children growing up without drawing, and creative projects.

The truth is, a lot of us forget how important it is for the arts to be supported in their community. The arts not only provide an outlet of expression but also bring together the community and represent our history over and over again.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.cdcfest.com
• Instagram: @cdcfest

Image Credits

Headshot of Artistic Director & Founder, McClaine Timmerman (photo by Sorcha Augustine)

All stage shots in theater (photos by Sorcha Augustine)

Studio photos captured by McClaine Timmerman