Dance & Fitness Faculty
Mason Alexander
FDC Director
Mason Alexander is from Cleveland, Ohio. He began his dance training at Cleveland City Dance under the direction of Courtney Laves-Mearini and Mark Otloski, joining the studio company during his final two years there. Mason then continued his pre-professional training with Ana Lobe at the Ana Lobe Ballet Academy, performing feature roles in The Nutcracker and in studio repertoire. After graduating from high school, Mason trained with Ohio Contemporary Ballet (formerly Verb Ballets) under Richard Dickinson before shifting his career focus from ballet to modern after being introduced to Inlet Dance Theatre. He later joined Inlet Dance Theatre in 2018. During his time with Inlet, Mason has had the opportunity to tour nationally with the company and to collaborate on the creation of several new works. Mason has also held teaching artist positions through Inlet classes for youth and through residencies at several Cleveland City schools, and later became the company’s social media coordinator. Mason lives in Cleveland with his two cats, brother and sister- Dipper and Dottie (also known as Dip n’ Dot).
Saundra Bohl
Spanish Dance Artistic Director
Saundra Bohl studied ballet at the Ballet Arts of Carnegie Hall and the Metropolitan Company in New York. She has a BA in Math and Music from Oberlin College and a Masters in Education from John Carroll University.
Elizabeth Garner
Dance Faculty
Elizabeth began her classical ballet studies at age four. Growing up, she performed with Ballet Theatre of Ohio as a junior company member in biannual productions, including The Nutcracker, Sleeping Beauty, and Cinderella, while also studying oboe and visual art. Elizabeth holds a B.A. in French with minors in Art and Business from Hillsdale College, where she continued dancing with the college’s company, “Tower Dancers,” and as a Charger Cheerleader.
Upon graduation, Elizabeth taught in French elementary schools for one year and spent two years in Milan, Italy, earning a Master in Arts Management from SDA Bocconi School of Management. In Milan, she trained under Michele Villanova, former principal at Teatro alla Scala, who encouraged her to continue ballet “per la gioia” (Italian: “for the joy”). Elizabeth has worked in the administration of several arts institutions, including the Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery, Cleveland Ballet, and Orsolina28—a renowned center for creative development in Monferrato. In addition to dancing, she enjoys photography, piano, and drawing.
Anna Gracon
Dance Faculty
Anna began her dance training with Fairmount Center for the Arts at the age of 4. After 10 years with Fairmount, she joined Cleveland City Dance in 2021. The following year, she became a company member with the studio’s pre-professional company, City Ballet of Cleveland. While there, Anna performed in a variety of roles, including Dew Drop in The Nutcracker, Alice in Alice in Wonderland, and Lilac Fairy in Sleeping Beauty. After graduating high school with an associate of arts from Kent State University, she joined State Street Ballet’s trainee program in Santa Barbara, CA. She has also worked as a substitute and student teacher for many years. For the 2026/27 season, Anna will be joining The Florida Ballet as a trainee while continuing to work toward her BA. She is excited to return to her Fairmount family!
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Andrea Trimmer
Tap
Andrea has loved tap dancing for as long as she can remember, and strives to share this love via teaching, choreographing, producing, and working to build a thriving tap community in Cleveland.
Andrea has performed at The Detroit International Jazz Festival and at numerous tap festivals around the country. She is founder/director of 3&a Break Rhythm Ensemble, an adult tap and music based performance ensemble. Andrea works to further her tap dance knowledge by attending festivals, intensives, and master classes across the United States and Canada.
Andrea’s love of tap has strong ties to music and she defines herself as a percussion artist as well as a dancer. She has strengthened her connection to jazz music by studying with Heather Cornell at her Tap Labs. She has played and performed with the NEO Women’s Big Band as a percussive and improvisational dancer/musician, and she includes music theory in all of her tap instruction. Andrea’s classes also include tap dance history, and she enjoys learning, preserving, and passing down historical tap dances.
Andrea is also an engineer by training and has a passion for bringing fun informal STEM education to children of all ages.