Rising Stars: Meet Cailin Manning

Today we’d like to introduce you to Cailin Manning.

Hi Cailin, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I have been dancing for 25 years now and it all began when my preschool teacher suggested to my parents that a dance class would be helpful for my constant classroom wiggles. I began my training in a competitive dance studio near Nashville and then got my B.F.A for dance from The Ohio State University.

For the past six years, I have been a working dancer, choreographer, director & teacher in Nashville. I was the Associate Director for Found Movement Group, a dance theater company based in Nashville, where I created my first show ‘The Way I See It’, and worked with the city transportation company, WeGo, to create a short episodic dance film ‘We Keep on Going’. I also co-created ‘Obsession’ which was Nashville’s first site-specific immersive dance show at Flamingo Cocktail Club.

With the company, I performed and presented work in New York at Jazz at Lincoln Center, Brooklyn, Nashville, and West Virginia. Currently focusing on dance film I’ve presented a few short films this past year and am working on releasing my latest short film ‘Going Down.’ I still choreograph and direct in collaboration with other artists like Phenix Red: I’ve loved working with her creatively on bringing her music to life on camera and for live shows.

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way? Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Ha! I think we all know that answer. The road feels a lot like Tennessee roads and the potholes are the trials you meet… The biggest surprise I’ve encountered in pursuit of a freelance choreographic and directorial career is simply the plethora of hats you have to wear. As artists, we have to be inherently (or learn how to be) entrepreneurial and manage all aspects of the art.

The creation of the art is easy(ish), but it’s the pursuit of making it sustainable that calls upon the other skills- funding, marketing, web and social media presence, managing and planning, etc. And when the majority of your time is spent teaching it becomes hard to carve out the time to do all of those things in pursuit of the art you need to make.

Honestly, it’s just the age-old tale of the working artist. It’s hard and it most likely always will be. But, I think of river rocks and how they are smoothed over time by the constant friction of water. Change is the only constant, so if we keep going and practice our craft deliberately, the change is more likely to be in our favor.

Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
I am a choreographer and movement director that does an array of dance styles and choreographies.

I’m most known for a grounded contemporary style that draws from grooves, break dancing and release floorwork techniques but can do jazz, jazz-funk, hip-hop, tap, and more. I’m most proud of my choreography and movement directing work for Phenix Red Music, my evening-length show ‘The Way I See It’ which utilized projection, an in-the-round immersive audience and a cast of 20 dancers, and my dance film work like my latest film ‘Going down’ which will be releasing soon!

I’ve also had a lot of fun teaching dance to hundreds of students across the country and movement coaching like working with TJ Osborne of the Osborne Brothers in stage presence and movement style.

We’d love to hear about any fond memories you have from when you were growing up?
One of my favorite childhood memories is taking classes in New York at the original Broadway Dance Center.

It’s actually the moment I knew dance would be the career path I chose. I was eight and taking a dance class with Frank Hatchett, a world-renowned jazz dance teacher, and choreographer. He stopped the class and pointed his finger at me and said, “When you turn 18, you need to move to New York.”

I didn’t end up following his advice as I was destined for college, but New York is never quite out of the question. I’ll never forget that moment.

Contact Info:

• Email: cailinleighcreative@gmail.com
• Website: www.cailinleigh.com
• Instagram: @cailinleighmanning
• Other: https://vimeo.com/cailinleigh

Image Credits
Minnie Morkie, Waylon Stone, Shmuck the Loyal, Bohan Advertising, and Logan Christopher