Kristy Clement - Artistic Director

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Kristy Clement graduated from Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio with a Master of Fine Arts degree in Contemporary Dance in 2012 and was a recipient of the Kathryn Karipides Award for Excellence in Teaching in the Field of Contemporary Dance. Prior to this she received her Bachelor of Arts in English and a Minor in Dance from Albion College in 2007 where she was given the Outstanding Dancer award two years in a row. She also held an internship at the Merce Cunningham Dance Company in New York City in 2005 where she began her research for her undergraduate thesis.   Clement has had the opportunity to perform and choreograph as a student, guest artist, and professional.  

During her time as a member of The Greater Lansing Ballet Company in 2009, she was named an Emerging Choreographer by the Regional Dance America Festival.  In Cleveland she taught at the university level and performed in various projects including Groundworks Dance Theater’s Rite of Spring and at Cleveland Public Theatre's Pandemonium.  She performed and choreographed as a member of the modern dance company, DDCdances of Detroit, MI in 2014-2015. She has choreographed several musicals for the Albion College Theatre beginning with Cabaret as a student in 2004 and continuing through the present with shows such as Sweet Charity and Ordinary Days. 

She has produced and performed in three performances in the Albion community, most notably Potential Movement, a performance at the Ludington Center in 2017 that was attended by around 150 community and college members. 

For many years Clement worked with Melissa "Missy" Wyss, the founder and main instructor of the Albion College Dance Program.  In 2022, Clement donated a digitized collection of performance video and photos from the college's dance program to the Albion College Library Archive and Special collections as well as a written history of the program highlighting the influence dance has had on the Albion community over time. 

Clement currently holds the position of Loss Prevention Manager for Walters-Dimmick Petroleum where she enjoys the many opportunities for project work and business and personal development.  Having established this career path, she decided to develop the non-profit organization, Fluence Arts Organization, to not only remained connected with the dance world, but to continue Missy Wyss's legacy of making dance happen as much as possible, exposing as many people to dance as possible and creating opportunities for dancers to perform.