Who We Are

Chloe Ilene, Artistic Director

Chloe Ilene is a dance-maker, performer, and educator. She is the Artistic Director of New Industry Dance, on faculty for Michiana Dance Ensemble, and a dance educator and curriculum builder at Nuner Fine Arts Academy. Her background in modern dance, ballet, West African dance and Yoga now inform her manner of movement. Her further training in improvisation, contemporary forms, Gaga technique, composition and somatics influence her theory and approach to creation and performance presence. Chloe approaches movement as investigative physical research, an act of fusion between the mind and body. Her role as a witness to process guides her ideas and creative direction. She is interested in activating the imagination and "thinking body" while in movement and leans toward the organic relationships that arise between the self and others in movement space. Her style has become progressively her own as she learns to incorporate abundance of experience into practice.

Chloe was a company dancer and collaborator with Fischer Dance from 2015-2018. During this time she developed an interest in working with underutilized spaces and community movers. Her capacity for contact improvisation and partner work were strengthened under Fischer’s direction. She became Assistant Director of Fischer Dance in March 2018. In July 2018, she took directorship of New Industry Dance, a revisioning of Fischer Dance.

In 2016, Chloe attended a Gaga Intensive where she had the opportunity to learn from Bobbi Jene Smith, Ian Robinson, and Adi Salant. In 2019, she was selected as a Summer 2019 MODULE artist with Sidra Bell Dance New York. She was also the recipient of an Individual Advancement Grant from the Indiana Arts Commission to provide movement education sessions, create a production with a community cast of movers, and host a series of open community forums to engage with the city. In October 2019, she was selected as a panel discussion leader for the Indiana Arts Commission Homecoming Conference where she discussed her work with non-arts organizations who share similar values of inclusion, diversity, equity, and access. Her screendance and youth work has been featured at RADFest (Midwest Regional Alternative Dance Festival) in 2019 and 2020. She was commissioned as choreographer for Clay High School Drama Department’s production of H2O: A Play About Water, which was awarded 1st place and Best Ensemble at both the 2020 Regional and State competition for the Indiana Thespian’s Society. Most recently, her work with the company was selected for an online exhibit (Making A Way) by the South Bend Museum of Art.

Chloe holds a B.A. in Anthropology and French, with a minor in Dance, from Indiana University South Bend, where she worked closely with Carolynn Hine-Johnson, Kelly Morgan, and Colin Raybin. She consistently continues her dance and movement education under a variety of dance peers, such as Stephanie Zaletel, Maayan Sheinfeld, K.J. Holmes, Barbara Mahler, Michelle Boulé, Yvonne Meier, Juliette Mapp, Mariana Valencia, among others.

Joanna Whitmyer, Senior Company Dancer

Joanna Whitmyer is a mover from Michigan with a varied background in dance. She began training in ballet at the age of six and has expanded her studies to ballroom, jazz, tap, contemporary, and modern dance. In the last several years, Joanna has focused on the internal expansion of her movement while diving deeper into Gaga and improvisation technique. She is a true believer in the power and resilience that can come from within the body. Joanna was a company artist and collaborator with Fischer Dance (2016-2018) and is now in her fifth season with New Industry Dance.

Joanna’s first short work, A Palpable Sensation, premiered on the company in Short Works, January 2020.

Sharon Sims, Senior Company Dancer

Sharon was born and raised in the city of South Bend where she began to explore human existence through movement and dance at an early age. With no formal training until high school, Sharon used movement as a means of meditation, release, healing, and creative imaginary exploration. As an adult, she is now focused on dance as a tool to create unity with the mind and body. She continues to use and teach movement exploration to promote healing and restoration from effects of abuse and trauma. She believes that with movement, we can draw near to and expose past memories, sensations, and emotions hidden in our subconscious minds. Sharon danced two seasons with Fischer Dance and is now in her fourth season with New Industry Dance. She is delighted to have a community that supports and uplifts Modern Dance.

Sharon’s first short work, LINGER, premiered on the company in Short Works, January 2020.

Mallory McAfee, Company Dancer

Mallory is a graduate of Purdue University with a degree in Chemistry and danced for the Purdue Contemporary Dance Company all through college. As a youth, Mallory studied with Bonnie Boilini Baxter in Ballet and Modern techniques. She had the opportunity to understudy "Ascension" choreographed by Bill Wade with Inlet Theater while in college, along with many other student and faculty works. Mallory danced with Fischer Dance for one season and is now continuing on to a third season with New Industry Dance.

Madeline Logan Williamson, Company Dancer

Madeline began her dance training in classical ballet and has since widened her field of study to include modern dance techniques such as Graham, Cunningham, and Limón, as well as Laban Movement Analysis, West African Dance, Improvisation, Composition, and Release Technique. Madeline holds a B.S. in Contemporary Dance and Kinesiology from Indiana University and is a trained Pilates instructor. She has performed works by Hubbard Street 2 (2015), Elizabeth Shea (2014-2016), Angie Hauser (2016), and more. She has attended workshops and intensives with Complexions Contemporary Ballet, Kathleen Hermesdorf, Adriane Fang of Doug Varone and Dancers, Abraham.In.Motion, and Dance Kaleidoscope. Madeline has taught Creative Movement, Modern Dance, Ballet, and Pilates for local studios and non-profit organizations as well as at public and private schools. Madeline’s work as a dancer is motivated by a desire to create art that is rooted in that which is unassuming and familiar. She believes that familiarity makes art more accessible—dance is for everyone.

Madeline’s first short work, iamb, spondee, trochee, dactylic, premiered on the company in Short Works, January 2020.

Isabelle Hanson, Company Dancer

Isabelle grew up surrounded by the performing arts, attending musicals, plays, and dance performances her parents had designed scenery, lighting, and costumes for. She discovered her love for performing in high school where she became heavily involved in any opportunity to sing, act, and dance. At Indiana University South Bend, she received a B.F.A. in Theatre with a concentration in Dance. It was there her passion for movement began to take root as she studied Ballet, Modern, Jazz, Tap, and West African Dance. Although she began her training later than most, that did not stop her from pursuing dance further by attending the movement labs and classes regularly offered by Fischer Dance, and then New Industry Dance, cultivating a deeper love and appreciation for Modern dance and artistic expression through the human form. Isabelle still explores different creative forms outside of dance, including drawing, painting, singing, and acting. Isabelle finds immense joy using her body as her instrument to express herself creatively. Isabelle joined New Industry Dance for their performance of Sensorimotor as an apprentice, and is thrilled to be continuing to move with the company for their second season.

Timothy McGinnis, Company Apprentice

Timothy McGinnis is from South Bend, IN and has been surrounded by art his whole life. He began his dance training as a freshman at Clay High School, where he had the opportunity to study ballet, modern, jazz, ethnic folk, and choreography, along with additional training in tap dance and musical theater. It was at Clay that he discovered a passion for movement, with modern dance playing a key role in his development as a dancer. As someone with an artistic view of life, Timothy is especially attracted to modern dance because it helps him channel positive energy. While dance has helped Tim remain passionate about other things in his life and created a sense of personal freedom, he is grateful to begin his first season as an apprentice with New Industry Dance.

New Industry Dance has worked with many regional artists and organizations.