Student Profile
Vitals:
Name: Raymond Tran
Graduation Year: 2011
Hometown: Alhambra, California
Major: Dance and Theatre
Weekend Activity: Visiting New York City
Originally from Alhambra, California; Raymond Tran is a Castle Scholar majoring in Dance and Theatre. He is also working on minors in Psychology and Music.
“I decided to concentrate in theatre because it is a discipline where most other disciplines meet; it helps if a performer is well-rounded in the understanding of literature, sciences, and the humanities to deliver a strong performance,” Raymond said. “The type of college that I was looking for was one that would allow me to study theatre in a non restrictive setting. Manhattanville’s theatre program fit this description as it allows students to explore other disciplines in the liberal arts such as dance, music, and writing. Performance grows as the performer grows, and the Castle Scholar honors program and the freedom to take other classes have helped me to do that.”
In the two years Raymond has attended Manhattanville, he has taken advantage of many extracurricular activities related to his major that are offered by the College and by organizations in nearby New York City and Fairfield County. Some of these include: serving as an intern for the International Playback School which drew attendees to Manhattanville from more than 22 countries, performing with the dance company PeterPucciPlus (the company of Manhattanville's current Artist in Residence), at the Joyce SoHo Theatre, performing at the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre in their Ailey Experience intensive, and attending Earl Mosley's Institute of the Arts dance intensive in Kent, Connecticut. He has also studied the Commedia technique of physical clowning with former guest artist Matt Chapman and his New York based company, Under-The-Table.
Raymond is also a RA, and in February he will be assisting with a month-long diversity program with the Office of Residence Life that will include African Dance, Oriental desserts, and other diversity education programs. He will also be studying abroad in Moscow, Russia and Stratford, London with the National Theatre Institute in the fall of 2009. In the summer of 2009, Raymond plans to study the Suzuki Method of Acting with the Anne Bogart SITI company, and he will also be attending Stella Adler's Physical Theatre intensive in New York City.
Although he keeps an extremely busy schedule, Raymond still makes time to volunteer. “I am a Duchesne scholar, and one of my favorite community service activities with the Duchesne Center is participating with the Children's Academy for Student Theatre,” he said. “I have also served as the instructor of Touch of Theatre, a program which uses theatre and performance techniques to facilitate expression with adults who have various disabilities. These two programs are great ways for me to share my passions and to give back to the community.”