About Dana
Dana was born in St. Petersburg, Russia, and grew up on the other side of the world on the East Coast of the United States. Her love for the arts and performing began early. At age seven, she started acting classes at the Arden Theatre in Philadelphia. She made her stage debut in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory at the age of eight. She worked for over a decade in various community theatres. Some of her lead credits include Mary Poppins in Mary Poppins, Ariel Moore in Footloose, Julia Sullivan in The Wedding Singer, and Penny Pingleton in Hairspray.
Dana graduated from Lenape High School in Medford, New Jersey, where she performed in every musical theatre production. She was accepted into the prestigious musical theatre BFA program at the University of Wisconsin Stevens Point. Highlights during her tenure at the University of Wisconsin include Jaquenetta in Love's Labour's Won, Molly in Animal Farm, and Sleeping Beauty in Into the Woods.
Dana earned her first feature film role during her freshman year, when she debuted on screen in the role of Juliette in Everything Will Be Fine in the End (2022). After shooting her first film in LA, she returned to school and made the decision to transfer into the BFA acting program to hone her skills as an actor. Between semesters, Dana trained in the Meisner Technique under Tony Savant at Playhouse West, one of the premiere acting schools in the country, founded by Robert Carnegie and Jeff Goldblum.
During her time at Playhouse West, Dana was featured in the lead role of Natalie in the short film Ted & Natalie (2025). She also earned the starring role as Samantha Layman in Curtain Call (2025), shooting the film between her college semesters. Next, she auditioned for and won the lead role of Bree Hewit in Intruder (2025), a sci-fi action film. Dana trained as an MMA fighter for her role as Bree, taking a semester off from college to film Intruder in the Philadelphia area, then returning to Wisconsin to graduate with her class. After graduation, Dana will be reprising her role as Bree Hewitt in the next two films in the Intruder trilogy (2025/2026).
When she is not working, Dana is most likely traveling to some place in the world that she has never seen. She has been to over 35 countries and spent time volunteering in Central America. She enjoys skiing and yoga and is an avid scuba diver, having earned her diving certification at the age of 15. Dana was both a competitive swimmer and cheerleader throughout her youth.