Contemporary Dance Choreography Festival

Come dance with us at CDC Fest this summer!! Saturday, July 25th: Orlando 12:30pm AUDITION (already announced) 2-3pm Joel Aguilera Master Class 3:15-4:15pm Elizabeth Karpov Master Class 4:30-5:30pm Meagan & Taylor Master Class 🌟 Get Registered before spots fill! Link with all info and registration details in bio and on website 🌟 BIOS BELOW: Joel Aguilera is a Houston-based choreographer, educator, and Olympic breaking coach. He holds an MFA from the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee and a BFA in Dance from the University of Houston. His performance career spans global stages, from NBC appearances with Snoop Dogg to international touring in Paris, Albania, South Korea, and Montenegro. Aguilera has performed alongside artists including Lil’ Wayne, Pitbull, and multi–Grammy Award–winning Arturo O’Farrill & the Afro Latin Jazz Orchestra, and most recently coached athletes in breaking for the 2024 Paris Olympic Games. Aguilera currently teaches at the University of Houston, San Jacinto College, and studios across the city, continuing to bridge communities and elevate underrepresented voices through movement. @mezcladadancecompany @aguilera_joel Elizabeth Karpov is a movement artist and emerging choreographer based in Winter Garden, FL. With a B.F.A. in Dance, Elizabeth is an independent, project-based movement artist who also currently dances with D’Vorah Dance Arts and 3rd Space Dance. Elizabeth’s current curiosity as a choreographer lies in ongoing conversations, interruptions, arguments, and questioning out loud. Her choreography is concept-driven and rooted in the curiosity and nuances in perception. @karpovcreates First meeting at SUNY Purchase Conservatory of Dance, Meagan Ahern and Georgia Taylor found a shared passion for composition and dance theater. Together, they like to move and jest. Every Tuesday since 2021, they collaboratively generate phrasework with each other, and sometimes friends. They now share a brain, a movement style, and an efficient strategy to create material. @meagmove @gj_taylor Photos of Elizabeth Karpov by Gracie May Photos of Joel Aguilera owned by company Photos of Meagan & Taylor by @sorcha_augustine

REGISTRATION IS OPEN!! ⭐️ Come join us for the 2026 CDC Fest Audition and Master Class series on Saturday, July 25th! 12:30-1:45pm Audition for opening number of the show 2-5:30pm 3 Contemporary Master Classes All info, requirements, payment likes, location and details can be found on the registration form on website or bio. Audition is FREE Master Classes $20 each (most people take all 3) Teachers will announced SOON! Filmed and edited by @kyleloftusstudios #choreography #contemporarydance #dancefest #dance #orlandoevents DM with questions @cdcfest

CDC Fest Artistic Director, McClaine T Gonzales will be choreographing the closing number of the 2026 CDC Fest Performance. @mrougemac Title of work: “Mirror, Mirror…” Description: Inspired by Silvia Plath’s poem, “Mirror,” in conjunction with the truths and lies we tell ourselves as we look into the mirror. This work will take on three different perspectives of the mirror and its relationship to conceptual “beauty.” McClaine endeavors to create work about the human experience with a strong interest in exploring feminist narratives. “I am most interested in exposing sociopolitical issues, and the emotionalism of humanity in its most raw state. By raw, I mean the bare and instinctive human qualities that can be expressed by the body through movement and sound. I continually investigate the power of the human voice and the effect it has on movement. My intent is to combine the power of gesture, spoken word, humor, and physical movement to present abstract yet narrative work. The challenge is to manifest the intimacy of the human experience, and yet still sustain the kinetic volume in the movement vocabulary. My goal is to present an amalgam of language, dance, and visual imagery in effort to forge an intimate yet conversational quality of theatrical performance.” Photos by @sorcha_augustine @cdcfest

Announcing our 2026 CDC Fest Guest Choreographer, Sidney Choothesa @sidchoochoo !!!!! She will be leading the audition at this year’s Festival to be selected for her opening number of the show! ALL INFORMATION listed on registration form, link below an in bio! Once you are registered, we will reach out to confirm details as we get closer to date! Please check to make sure you are available for all requirements both Saturday and Sunday if auditioning. All photos by @sorcha_augustine /forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeWZtvKnvL6eOLInHhaFGH6iYyWaNFgPFxH-XGWKAsxXEqW-Q/viewform

Introducing 2026 CDC Fest Choreographer, Yadi ZHANG @yadiiiiiii_z @yadid_ance Born in SHANGHAI, CHINA Travelling to CDC Fest from Boston Title of work: UTOPIA Brief description of work: Utopia is a quiet journey between reality and imagination. Beneath a pink and violet sky, dancers cross an invisible bridge, searching for a world filled with warmth, light, and innocence. What begins as a dream of a perfect place slowly transforms into a realization: utopia is not a distant land, but a fragile space that lives within the human heart. First, third, fifth photo by Vic Zhang @cdcfest

Introducing 2026 Co-Choreographers, Meagan Ahern @meagmove & Georgia Taylor @gj_taylor Born in the San Francisco Bay Area and Louisville, Kentucky Travelling to CDC Fest from Brooklyn, New York Title of work: if only there was another… Brief description of work: *two hazmat-ed individuals enter with an egg carton encasing a singular egg* oh look....an egg! we haven’t seen one of those in years. this could be the last one on earth. hope nothing happens to it.... Photos by Brennan Murphy @brenonade @cdcfest

Introducing 2026 CDC Fest Choreographer, Hattie Haggard Gobble @hattie_ya_do_it Born in Plano, Texas Travelling to CDC Fest fromChicago, Illinois Title of work: Speaky Speaky Brief description of work: Friends teach, confide, tease, celebrate, follow and lead one another. Speaky Speaky aims to draw out the observable dynamics of kinship. Whether through tension or laughter, words or gestures, there is always something to bond a group of people together to form a closer relationship. First 2 stage photos by @a.8_8.e Remaining stage photos by Kristie Kahns @cdcfest

Introducing 2026 CDC Fest Choreographer, Elizabeth Karpov @karpovcreates @elizabethkarpov Local choreographer in Winter Garden, FL Title of work: Reel it in and handle with care Brief description of work: This duet employs text and movement to dive into a complicated competition between two fishermen. Negotiation, duality, dependency, and trust are discussed, and eventually confronted with the selfishness of human survival. These hungry fishermen use a bow and arrow to catch fish, rather than patiently and peacefully waiting for bait to attract a successful catch. “That’s not how it works” is a phrase repeated in a voice of frustration and confusion in competition when success doesn’t come with their own method. They explore how it SHOULD work and how it could be when working together and by the book, but reality sets in shortly after. The pursuit of the biggest fish is presented in a comedic manner. The piece concludes when one uses the weapon against the other to eliminate the competition, once trust has been earned. A dynamic that was once a peaceful, fair, and even a silly game ends with one winner. Stage shots by Ansa du Toit Headshot by Gracie May Photography @cdcfest

Introducing 2026 CDC Fest Choreographer, Alexis Bomer @lexbomer Born in Pittsburgh PA Traveling to CDC Fest from Wilmington NC Title of work: Passing Brief description of work: “The more things change, the more they stay the same.” Passing is about time, how quickly it seems to go when you look back, always pushing you into the unknown future. We get stuck in repeating cycles or routines, but so much can change. Alexis pulls from real life experiences as inspiration for these different thoughts and feelings about time. She’s still doing the same things she’s always done, but some people aren’t here anymore, and her perspective on a lot has changed, all while growing older and time passes. Stage photos by @sorcha_augustine @cdcfest

Introducing 2026 CDC Fest Choreographer, Joel Aguilera, leader of Mezclada Dance Company @mezcladancecompany @aguilera_joel Travelling to CDC Fest from Houston, Texas Title of work: Interlace Brief description of work: Interlace is centered around a sub-element of breaking: threading. This work places breaking and threading at the forefront as dancers weave in and out of the space, with one another, and within themselves. Applying street dance vocabulary to a traditional concert setting, Interlace highlights both dynamic movement and precision. @cdcfest

Introducing 2026 CDC Fest Choreographer, Chantal Kelleher @chantal_allyse Born: Boston, MA Title of work: “On The Rebound” Description of work: “It’s all playful chaos, where the trash talk is light, the confidence is loud, and everyone’s in on the joke. “On The Rebound” celebrates fiery competitiveness while honoring the bold, electric relationships that spark and grow within it.” dance photo credit @mickeywestphoto @cdcfest

Introducing 2026 CDC Fest Choreographer, Deanna Stanton @deannastantonchoreography Born in Washington DC Travelling to CDC Fest from Little Rock, Arkansas Title of work: Innocent Thorns Innocent Thorns is inspired by imagery of a rose with falling petals—a symbol of beauty, fragility, and quiet resilience. The work explores how grace and strength can coexist, and how beauty can emerge not despite hardship, but because of it. Throughout the choreography, the ballet reflects the human capacity to grow, soften, and bloom even in unforgiving conditions. It honors the idea that beauty shaped by adversity is not fragile—it is intentional, grounded, and deeply human. Photo Credit: Rachel Neville Photography @rachelnevillestudios @cdcfest