Vivian Leilani Shay is from Santa Barbara, CA and attends Stanford University. Currently pursuing a B.S. in Earth Systems on the Environmental Geoscience track as well as a Minor in Dance, Vivian's curiosity and passions span multiple disciplines. Most recently, Vivian spent a quarter studying in Hawai'i and conducting field research on Hawaiian ecology, Earth science, and anthropology with Stanford's Wrigley Field Program. She is an active member of Stanford Taiko, Stanford's student-run Japanese drumming ensemble. Highly involved with the Theater and Performance Studies department at Stanford, Vivian serves as both Peer Advisor for the Dance Minor program and advocates for sustainable theatre practices as the university's Broadway Green Alliance "Green Captain." 

 

Vivian loves collaborative creativity and is passionate about connecting the dots between science and the arts. Intrigued by the parallels between theatrical and scientific exploration, Vivian believes art and science share the power of communication. In her studies and research, she intends to explore theatre and dance as media for scientific communication. 

 

Voted Santa Barbara's Dancer of the Decade in the regional BroadwayWorld Awards, Vivian started dancing at age 6 and has trained throughout Southern California and in New York City. Her musical theatre training includes working with The Lexington Theatre Company and The Broadway Collective; she also spent two summers training with the Radio City Rockettes at the Rockettes Summer Intensive. Vivian is also a choreographer; she taught a weekly Beginning/Intermediate Theatre Jazz class at The Dance Hub in Santa Barbara, CA, and consistently creates dance video projects. In summer of 2021, she served as an intern for the Princess Grace Foundation in the Grants Department.