Kristi Dana

Kristi Dana is a teacher, actor and vocal coach. Dana is the director of mVm Miller Voice Method ®, is a certified teacher of the work, and is a member of the mVm faculty. She holds a certificate of completion from the Michael Chekhov Association (MICHA) and is a member of the MICHA faculty. Dana is also certified in Knight-Thompson Speechwork (KTS).

Prior to coming to SMU, she served as a visiting assistant professor of voice and speech at Penn State University (2017–18). In 2016–17, she was interim head of M.F.A. acting, and graduate voice and speech teacher, at Brooklyn College. Dana has also taught at Yale University’s Summer Conservatory for Actors, Long Island University/Post, the College of Staten Island, and the American Academy of Dramatic Arts. 

Dana served as a board member for the Voice and Speech Trainers Association (VASTA) (2018–21) and has been active in the organization as an associate conference director and as its focus group conference planner at ATHE (Association for Theatre in Higher Education). She is a past awardee of VASTA’s early-career leadership initiative. Dana has published in Voice and Speech Review and presented her work at numerous VASTA and ATHE conferences.

As an actor, her Dallas credits include world premieres of Matthew Paul Olmos’ so go the ghosts of méxico, part three and Gordon Dahlquist’s Red Chariot at Undermain Theatre and the world premiere of Audrey Cefaly’s Alabaster at Kitchen Dog Theater. Her professional vocal coaching includes Marie Antoinette at Soho Rep and Liz Lerman’s tour of Healing Wars. Her scholarly and creative research focuses on how the intersection of mVm Miller Voice Method and the Michael Chekhov Technique assist the actor in developing deeply authentic expression, or “Vocal Transparency.”

Dana holds an M.F.A. in acting from Brooklyn College, an M.A. in theatre education from Emerson College and a B.A. in theatre arts from Penn State University.