CDF coordinates a variety of public programs to benefit the broader Chicago dance community, including informal works-in-progress showings, artistic development workshops, and critical forums and discussions. Engaging and educating audiences, and each other, on how to discuss, understand, and critique movement work is at the core of CDF’s mission. CDF is the only artistic programming forum of its kind dedicated to nurturing artistic advancement for the dancemaking field in Chicago. Programs are led by visiting artists, cultural organizers, and local artists and scholars. By creating critical spaces for individual learning and sharing process-oriented discoveries, CDF aims to foster critical engagement and advance the artistic development field for dancemakers and their collaborators working in such fields as dramaturgy, sound and video.

CDF public programs are open to the general public, as well as interested Chicago artists, and are offered for free or at an affordable cost.