Christina Traister

Professor of Theatre & Drama

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Bio

Christina Traister currently serves as Head of Performance. She joined the faculty after an eleven year tenure in the Department of Theatre at Michigan State University, serving five years as the Graduate Acting Program Director where she taught classical acting, stage combat, movement, and voice. She has been the recipient and nominee for multiple teaching awards.

Prior to relocating back to her home state, she was a San Francisco-based actor and fight director for twelve years. She has professionally acted at such theatres as the Alabama Shakespeare Festival, The American Shakespeare Collective (TASC), San Francisco Shakespeare Festival, Michigan Shakespeare Festival, Carmel Shakespeare Festival, Shakespeare at Stinson, Center Repertory Company, and BoarsHead Theatre; she also enjoyed a six month stint in Taiwan as a stunt performer.

Additional teaching and professional fight directing venues include the American Conservatory Theater, Alabama Shakespeare Festival, Utah Shakespeare Festival, Cleveland Play House, The American Shakespeare Collective (TASC), Shakespeare Santa Cruz, San Francisco Shakespeare Festival, Michigan Shakespeare Festival, Purple Rose Theatre Company, BoarsHead Theatre, Stormfield Theatre, North Carolina School of the Arts, University of San Diego, University of California – Santa Cruz, the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, Hillsdale College, and Adrian College. She has also taught stage combat master classes at numerous conferences, both internationally and nationally.

Christina is also a freelance audiobook narrator, having recorded over three hundred titles for such companies as Brilliance Audio, Common Mode, John Marshall Media, Podium Publishing, Macmillan Publishers, Tantor Media, Lyric Audiobooks, BeeAudio, Dreamscape Media and Talking Book.

She is a proud alumna of the very first class to receive a BFA in Performance (Acting). She is a two-term past president of the SAFD (Society of American Fight Directors), as well as a certified teacher, fight director, and the second ever female fight master with the organization. She is also a member of AEA, SAG-AFTRA, and VASTA.