Meet the artists

Round 2

Elizabeth Pollert

Cleveland, OH

Elizabeth Pollert (she/her) is a Cleveland-based creator, performer, and dance educator, and works as an independent artist with area choreographers, movers, and multi-genre makers. She has performed and choreographed both in the U.S. and abroad, including France, Canada, China, India, and Easter Island(Chile). In the U.S., Pollert has performed and choreographed for Cleveland Public Theatre’s DanceWorks series, Playhouse Square, the Cleveland Art Museum, and IngenuityFest, Cleveland, OH; International Performing Arts for Youth Conferences, Philadelphia, PA; Lose Your Marbles Festival, Akron, OH; WOW Festival, San Diego; and Charlotte International Arts Festival, North Carolina. Additionally, she has toured with the children’s show What Do You Do With An Idea? Pollert spent 16 seasons with Inlet Dance Theatre, Cleveland, where she served as a performing company member, education coordinator, and instructor and choreographer for Inlet’s education programming. Pollert has been a selected choreographer with the Cleveland Dance Project, and a collaborator with Elu Dance and Ajayi Dance. Currently, she teaches at area studios, serves as a guest teacher for local companies, is a touring artist for Australian Polyglot Theatre’s Ants and Bees productions, and is creating her own work. She is passionate about making dance accessible to all ages and backgrounds and creating work that invites people to explore the world through embodied experiences. Elizabeth holds a MFA in Dance from Bennington College and a BFA in Dance from Belhaven University.

Mason Alexander

Cleveland OH

Mason Alexander grew up dancing at several Cleveland-area studios with a focus in ballet. In addition to his studio time with Cleveland City Dance & the Ana Lobé Ballet Academy, Mason spent time training with Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre, Miami City Ballet, Cincinnati Ballet, & Ohio Contemporary Ballet. Upon completing his high-school education, Mason shifted his career focus and has spent the majority of his professional dance career thus far in the modern and contemporary dance world, largely at Inlet Dance Theatre, while also guesting with emerging choreographers. He is currently a contracted guest artist with North Pointe Ballet, Dancing Wheels Company, & Dominic Moore-Dunson’s national tour of The Remember Balloons.

mouse vision

Ashtabula & Cleveland, OH

Laura Swedenborg, butoh-based movement improviser and collaborator, has performance credits in NYC, N/W PA, Buffalo NY, Michigan, Cincinnati and Cleveland. She works with artists of sound, movement, video, photography, poetry, wearable art and more. Swedenborg and her collaborators present work in theaters, museums, art galleries, art festivals, parks, and other public spaces.

Kristen Ban Drake was active in the early 90’s as a performance/slam poet and sound artist, performing locally and nationally and receiving 2 OAC Individual Artist Grants for her work. After taking time off to concentrate on family and to deepen her studies and practice in the BuddhaDharma, she has returned to sound performance using voice, analog synthesizers, and electro-acoustic instruments, both solo (as Ann B. Klorox) and in collaboration with her husband bbob drake and others in the experimental/noise scene. She is currently incorporating her background in dance and martial arts into collaborations with local movement and Butoh artists.

bbob drake is a sound artist, musician, deep listener, educator, and instrument maker. 15 recorded musical releases, hundreds of local and national performances, and sound installations at local and regional galleries. Dance accompaniment, including for Birds Who Walk at Night, “Sojourn” project at Rooms To Let, and various contact improv jams. Certified Deep Listening facilitator, and adjunct professor at CIA (sound art, electronics for artists, media installation). OAC Individual Excellence award winner, Media Arts 2025.

saige rook

Lakewood, OH

Saige Doré Rook (she/her) is a dance artist and movement instructor based in Lakewood, Ohio. She holds a BA in Dance in Community and a BS in Health Sciences from Cleveland State University where she performed works by artists such as Antonio Brown, Annie Morgan and Teena Marie Custer. After graduation she has had the opportunity to deepen her connection with a myriad of dance and allied health and wellness mentors as well as continuing her education through becoming a certified yoga instructor and certified in thai yoga massage. She is also currently in the process of finishing her physical trainer certification through NASM. As a movement instructor, she teaches barre, ballet, pre-pointe, and beginning pointe as well as somatic workshops where she is passionate about utilizing a functional, sustainable and whole person approach to create spaces that feel open and safe for anyone inclined to participate. Her choreographic works serve as an extension of these ideals and have been presented at The Beck Center for the Arts, Cleveland Dance Project Showcase, Cleveland State University, as well as captured in a short film 'Casualties' in collaboration with local film-makers and local musicians. She looks forward to seeing her student base expand and to continuing to create in collaboration with local artists of all kinds.

Teagan Reed

Cleveland, OH

Teagan Reed (she/her) hails from St. Petersburg, Florida, and began Scottish Highland dance at age 12. She trained at the Patricia Ann Dance Studio and the Pinellas County Center for the Arts before earning her B.F.A. in 2020 from the Boston Conservatory at Berklee College of Music and completing Hubbard Street's professional training in the same year. Tea has performed with various companies, including Fukudance, Dance in the Parks Chicago, Little Fire Artist Collective, Aerial Dance Chicago, and Groundworks DanceTheatre. In 2016, she launched Ballet Naked and founded the Pro.noun Dance Project in 2021 to increase visibility of queer and trans artists.

Trinity Stevens

Kingsville, OH

Trinity Stevens (they/them) is a dancer/movement artist based in northeast Ohio, who received an Associate of Arts from Kent State University and graduated Summa Cum Laude with a Bachelor of Arts from Cleveland State University. At CSU, Stevens completed the coursework for the Dance in Community major, Theatre Studies minor, and Arts Management certificate while also participating in the CSU Dance Company. They have been a dancer with Seiche Dance Collective, Lowell House Opera, Morgan Walker & Dancers, and the Dancing Wheels Company. Having attended the Boston Ballet Adaptive Dance teacher training, Dark Room Ballet’s teacher training, the Destination Arts Integration Conference, and professional development sessions by the Center for Arts Inspired Learning, Stevens hopes to apply their experience towards the goal of creating healthy and inclusive dance environments.