Cristina Menz is a Chilean-Canadian actress, singer, songwriter, dancer and choreographer of Spanish, German and French decent. She was born in Valdivia, Chile, to Maria Angelica Ferron, a school teacher and Rogelio Eduardo Menz, an Agriculturist. Her father was a political prisoner under the Augusto Pinochet dictatorship. Shortly thereafter, her family fled Chile to Edmonton, Canada.
Cristina began her theatrical career at the age of 9 as a dancer, when she appeared in the Alberta Ballet Company’s Nutcracker. In her teens, she choreographed several theatre productions at the Edmonton Fringe Festival and Alberta Dance Explosions.
In the 1990’s Cristina formed two electronica bands, Madrazor and Bohema Vista, in which she was a singer/songwriter. Madrazor, an all female group, made appearances on MuchMusic, New Music West in Vancouver, A-Channel, and Shaw Cable. Bohema Vista toured the European dance circuit and performed in various venues including Paramount Nightclub in Germany. Bohema Vista’s song Agente Secreto reached #1 on CKER Radio’s World Charts. Bohema Vista was the only band in Western Canada invited to perform at Energy Rush Music Festival, where they opened for Bananarama, Whigfield, and Los Del Mar (Macarena). Bohema Vista’s song Psychedelic Vision was included in both BMG Music’s Beatclub dance compilation and an HBO movie soundtrack for The Halfback of Notre Dame.
During the span of her career Cristina has performed in Vancouver, Chile, Hong Kong, London, and Germany. Some of her theatre, TV and film credits include Inspector General, Nuncrackers, Tony n’ Tina’s Wedding, The Dating Game, The Imaginary Cuckold, OCTV, Auf Wiedersehen Pet, City Lights on Novus Television (TV host), The River Jordan, Calendar Girls, Watchmen, and recently the feature film Hands that Bind. She has produced two short films, Soup du Jour and The Line.
Cristina graduated from Grant MacEwan’s Theatre Arts Program in Edmonton, Alberta, and then continued her studies at the Guildhall School of Music & Drama in London, England. A certified interior designer, she has worked on over fifty design projects.
Currently, she resides in Edmonton, Alberta with her husband Andrew and baby Grayson.
