Dr Natascha Diaz Cardona

 

 

natascha.diaz@yoobeecolleges.com

Links:

PhD Thesis

Professional Profile

Research Gate

Academia Profile

LinkedIn

Facebook

About

Dr Natascha Diaz Cardona teaches acting at South Seas School of Film and Television, Auckland, New Zealand, and is the Representative for Film and Television on the Yoobee Colleges Research Committee. She also teaches drama at Massey University, Albany, and at Auckland University of Technology, where she earned her PhD in Theatre and Performance Studies. She is from Colombia, where she obtained her Master in Creative Writing and Bachelor in Performing Arts. Her research focuses on acting pedagogy and the performance of violence in the theatre and on the street.

Dr Diaz Cardona has more than sixteen years of experience as a playwright, director, dramaturg, and actor. Her professional experience includes acting, playwriting, drama tutoring, university lecturing, and creating and developing artistic and educative programs. As a tutor, she creates a bond with her students when they can feel free to express themselves without fear of judgment. Her classes are fun, full of energy and rich in activities and games. She can connect easily with students from four years old to ninety years old. In Colombia she worked for five years at the French School in Bogota where she developed plays for the youth theatre group, including adaptations of A Midsummer Night’s Dream by William Shakespeare, Peer Gynt by Ibsen, The Haunting of Hathaway House by John Murray; and she also wrote original works such as The Night of the Living Dolls, La Viudita del Carnaval, and La Muerte en Cueros, stories inspired by Colombian folklore.

As an actress, Dr Diaz Cardona has participated in different Colombian soup operas, such as Angel de mi Guarda, Criminal, and Pocholo, and in theatre productions, including I Took Panama, Calima: Historias de Vapor, and El Dictador de Copenhague. Her acting training includes workshops in Suzuki and Viewpoints techniques. Dr Diaz Cardona has also worked as a lecturer at Universidad del Valle where she taught Theatre History and seminars on Modern Theatre. In 2008, she was awarded with the publication of her first theatre play, Victimas de una Muerte Anunciada.

In New Zealand, Dr Diaz Cardona has participated in the children’s play, Monsters War, directed and written by Nataliya Oryschuck (Christchurch, 2014). In 2015, she worked as co-director and stage manager at Hawkins Youth Theatre Company on the productions, How the Kiwi Lost its Wings and Grimm Stories. In 2020, she was cast in the play, The Wall, directed by Daniel Fernandez and produced by Babel Theatre. And, in 2016-2017, she was a guest tutor at PIPA (Pacific Institute of Performing Arts), where, with two students, she created and co-directed the short play, Clown2Much, for the Short & Sweet Festival.

Research Outputs

Publications

Theses and Dissertations (Open Access)

Diaz Cardona, N. (2020). The Denied Happiness: Stages of Violence, Terror and Repression in Colombia [PhD, Doctor of Philosophy thesis, Auckland University of Technology]. Tuwhera. https://openrepository.aut.ac.nz/handle/10292/13452

Creative Works

Diaz Cardona, N. (Producer). (2022). The Fox. Auckland: Yoobee College of Creative Innovation.

Diaz Cardona, N., & Tookey, A. (Screenwriters). (2022). The Fox. Auckland: Yoobee College of Creative Innovation.

Diaz Cardona, N. (Screenwriter, director, and producer). (2021). Search for the Selfish Elves [short film]. Brickworks Drama School. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sDYxLnMijZs&t=2419s

Diaz Cardona, N. (Director). (2020). As You Like it by William Shakespeare. Unitec Performing & Screen Arts Programme.

Diaz Cardona, N. (Actor). (2020). The Wall by Mallika Krishnamurthy. Directed by Daniel Fernandez. Opening Season at TAPAC.

Diaz Cardona, N. (Producer Manager). (2018). America Rex by Tom Minter. Directed by Dione Joseph. Opening Season at TAPAC.

Diaz Cardona, N. (Director). (2017). Clown2Much [Devising theatre piece].

Conferences

Diaz Cardona, N. (2023, October 25-27). Unleashing the power of imagery: A dynamic approach to acting education [Conference paper presentation]. Retro-futuristic Visions: Looking Back to Look Forward. The 2nd International Academic Conference of Yoobee College of Creative Innovation, Wellington, New Zealand.

Diaz Cardona, N. (2022, December 14–16). Theatre stages of violence, terror, and repression: A case study [Conference paper presentation]. Media, Culture, and Society: The Inaugural International Academic Conference of Up Education (Australia and New Zealand), Yoobee College of Creative Innovation, Auckland, New Zealand.

Diaz Cardona, N. (2022, December 6-9). The horrible night has (not) ceased [Conference paper presentation]. Travelling Together: The Australasian Association for Theatre, Drama, and Performance Studies (ADSA) Conference, The University of Auckland, New Zealand.

Díaz Cardona, N. (2022, September 13–14). Train like a champ and be seen as an influencer: Is acting training redundant in the social media age? [Conference paper presentation]. See and Be Seen: An Interdisciplinary Conference on Storytelling and Identity in Popular Culture, Popular Culture Research Centre, Auckland University of Technology, Auckland, New Zealand (Online).

Diaz Cardona, N. (2019). The denied happiness: Stages of violence, terror and repression in Colombia. [Conference paper presentation]. Te Kupenga o MAI Doctoral Conference, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand.

Diaz Cardona, N. (2019). Connection experiences: Creating unity from our singularity [Workshop]. Third Female Forum Aotearoa Latin American Community Incorporated, Auckland Latin American Community Inc., Auckland, New Zealand.

Diaz Cardona, N. (2018). From the norm to the exception? De-staging violence in Colombia. [Conference paper presentation]. Postgraduate Research Symposium, Auckland University of Technology, Auckland, New Zealand.

Diaz Cardona, N. (2018). Performing belonging: Expressing your truths through contemporary art [Workshop]. Race Unity Conference, Auckland, New Zealand.

Diaz Cardona, N. (2018). The violence of distance in Colombia [Conference paper presentation]. The Tyranny of Distance: International Drama in Education Research Institute (Idieri) Conference, University of Auckland, New Zealand.

Diaz Cardona, N. (2017). Un-belonging to the violence: A case study from Colombian History. [Conference paper presentation]. Performing Belonging in the 21st Century: Australasia Association for Theatre, Drama and Performance Studies (ADSA) Conference, Auckland University of Technology, Auckland, New Zealand.

Contribution and Membership

Contribution to the Research Environment

Graduate Assistant for the Te Ara Poutama Programmes Coordination and Planning of the annual Australasian Theatre, Drama and Performance Studies (ADSA) conference, Auckland University of Technology, 2017.