Corinna Di Niro is a creative academic researcher-director-performer with strong industry and cultural connections who is often interviewed about her innovative work. She has examined a number of creative writing and theatre based PhDs and Honours theses and led creative research projects that provide students with industry experience.
Corinna runs her theatre company, Stage Secrets, and is a returning guest lecturer at the National Institute of Dramatic Arts (NIDA), where she teaches Commedia dell'Arte to the BA Fine Arts cohort. Corinna appears regularly on Italian community radio sharing her knowledge of italian theatre and culture in Australia. In 2021 she has been invited to present her theatre and creative writing... Read more
About me
Corinna Di Niro is a creative academic researcher-director-performer with strong industry and cultural connections who is often interviewed about her innovative work. She has examined a number of creative writing and theatre based PhDs and Honours theses and led creative research projects that provide students with industry experience.
Corinna runs her theatre company, Stage Secrets, and is a returning guest lecturer at the National Institute of Dramatic Arts (NIDA), where she teaches Commedia dell'Arte to the BA Fine Arts cohort. Corinna appears regularly on Italian community radio sharing her knowledge of italian theatre and culture in Australia. In 2021 she has been invited to present her theatre and creative writing research at a number of events including ARIA@SAHMRI, which showcased Adelaide's top Italo-Australian researchers.
Corinna was co-editor for the book Commedia dell’Arte for the 21st Century: practice and performance in the Asia-Pacific. This two-year project involved collaborating with scholars, practitioners and drama teachers across seven countries and is the first book that specifically deals with Commedia's hybridisation and effectiveness in the Asia-Pacific.
Corinna is currently lead researcher and director of Bone Cage, a theatre show about domestic violence and the issues women face when trapped in an abusive relationship. The mulitdisciplinary team spanning theatre, film, sound, gaming and virtual production have integrated immersive technology to enhance the audience experience to promote change. The show will be performed at the Hartely Playhouse, UniSA Magill campus, as part of the Adelaide Fringe Festival 2022.
In 2019 Corinna became a TEDx speaker for her innovative VR in Theatre creative research project, 'The Virtual Actor', which she received funding for and led as part of a UniSA Creative research project involving students and industry mentors.
Corinna is passionate about the performing arts, student engagement and collaboration, as evidenced by her growing list of publications.
About me
2021–current: Association of Research between Italy and Australasia (ARIA) - Board Member
2019–current: Associate Member | Creative People Products and Places (CP3), UniSA
2018–current: Speaker/Member | Women in AR/VR, NSW
2018–current: Speaker/Co-facilitator | Adelaide Virtual Reality, SA
2018–current: Member | Australasian Association of Writing Programs
2018–current: Member | Australasian Association for Theatre, Drama and Performance Studies
2016–current: Member | National Association of Enabling Educators of Australia
2005–current: Member | SAT Cultural Association, Italy
About me
Date | Title |
---|---|
07/01/2021 |
Tra commedia dell’arte e attori virtuali, https://ilglobo.com/news/tra-commedia-dellarte-e-attori-virtuali-57171/ |
17/04/2020 |
COVID-19 Responses in South Australia: Dr Corinna Di Niro, https://www.broadwayworld.com/adelaide/article/BWW-Feature-COVOD-19-RESPONSES-IN-SOUTH-AUSTRALIA-CORINNA-DI-NIRO-at-South-Australia-20200417 |
11/11/2019 |
Corinna Di Niro - theatre reviews , https://glamadelaide.com.au/tag/corinna-di-niro/ |
09/11/2011 |
Commedia dell’Arte Showcase – with Antonio Fava, https://glamadelaide.com.au/commedia-dellarte-showcase-with-antonio-fava/ |
30/06/2011 |
Commedia Corinna, https://stagesecrets.com.au/sa-life-magazine-commedia-corinna/ |
About me
Doctor of Philosophy University of South Australia
Bachelor of Arts (Honours) University of South Australia
Bachelor of Media Arts University of South Australia
Prior to joining UniSA, Corinna worked as an international actor, theatre maker and teacher. She trained in theatre in Italy in 2004 and has worked for companies including Banksia Productions, Disney, Sudden Impact and Cirque du Soleil. Corinna has taught Commedia and Comic Acting (and its variants) in London, Paris, Stockholm, New York, Padua, Lima, Auckland and across Australia. Corinna became a TEDx speaker in 2019 for her innovative research in using virtual reality to transform an audience member into an actor in a live stage show.
A highlight in her career was when she appeared performed the SA iconic role, Humphrey B Bear, for Banksia Productions during 2007-2015. In that time, Corinna worked with high profile performers including Samantha Jade, The Collective, The Jersey Boys, Jon Stevens, Patsy Bisco (to name a few), numerous media companies and film/theatre crew. She performed in large events to crowds of over 30000 people and "appeared" in numerous magazines. Corinna was also responsible for writing, staging and directing various HBB shows as well as training new actors. Her time as Humphrey B Bear will always hold a special place in her heart.
See:
Books -
2021 Commedia dell’Arte for the 21st Century: Practice and Performance in the Asia-Pacific (Routlege) - co-editor
2021 Performing and Teaching Commedia dell’Arte: step-by-step practical approaches to engaging a 21st century audience (Routledge) - sole author (in press - due June 2023)
Special Issue -
2020 Dr Michael Noble, Writing From Below - co-editor (https://writingfrombelow.org/dr-michael-noble/)
Creative Research projects -
2021 - Why Didn't She Just Leave?: exploring barriers women face when trying to escape their violent partners through virtual reality and immersive performance practice
2019 - Bone Cage (https://glamadelaide.com.au/theatre-review-bone-cage/)
2018 -... Read more
Research
Excludes commercial-in-confidence projects.
Theatre Performances -
Di Niro, C 2022 (director), 'Bone Cage', Adelaide Fringe Festival, in collaboration with UniSA Creative, Hartley Playhouse, Magill, 23-25 Feb.
Di Niro, C 2019 (director), 'Bone Cage', INDELIBLE (Eng) / INDELEBILE (It) – Representation in the Arts of (in)visible violence against women and their resistance, Flinders Univeristy, Adelaide, 23 Oct.
Di Niro, C., Walker, A., Nilsson, A., Clarkson, R., Gou, Y., Spasovska, E., Levy N., & Cannell, C 2019, 'Becoming-game', JM Coetze Centre’s ‘Scholarship is the New Conservative’ Symposium, 6 September.
Di Niro, C 2015, 'The Royal Bloodbath', Commedia con Corinna, theatre performance season, Feb-March, Adelaide Fringe
Di Niro, C 2013, 'Re:Wed - The Marriage of Flavio and Isabella', Commedia con Corinna, theatre performance season, Oct-Nov, City Soul
Di Niro, C 2012, 'Re:Wed - The Marriage of Flavio and Isabella', Commedia con Corinna, theatre performance season, Feb-March, Adelaide Fringe
Di Niro, C 2011, 'The Marriage of Flavio and Isabella', Commedia con Corinna, theatre performance season, Nov, Nexus Multicultural Theatre
Di Niro, C 2011, 'The Marriage of Flavio and Isabella', Commedia con Corinna, theatre performance season, Feb-March, Adelaide Fringe
Di Niro, C 2010, 'iSize', Commedia con Corinna, theatre performance season, Nov, Nexus Multicultural Theatre
Research
Research outputs for the last seven years are shown below. To see earlier years visit ORCID
Open access indicates that an output is open access.
Year | Output |
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2022 |
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2022 |
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2021 |
Open access
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2021 |
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2020 |
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Year | Output |
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2022 |
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Year | Output |
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2022 |
Open access
|
2022 |
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2022 |
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2022 |
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2021 |
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2018 |
1
29
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Year | Output |
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2022 |
Open access
|
2021 |
Open access
|
2020 |
Open access
2
|
2020 |
Di Niro, C & Dunkin, A 2020, 'Knowing Michael', Writing From Below, vol. 5, no. 1, pp. 1-9.
Open access
|
2020 |
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2020 |
Open access
|
2020 |
Open access
|
2019 |
Open access
|
2015 |
Open access
|
Year | Output |
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2019 |
Open access
|
PhD: Performing Commedia dell'Arte in a contemporary Australian context with reference to Antonio Fava's method: a continuous translation (conferred Oct 2016).
Research
Books -
2021 Commedia dell’Arte for the 21st Century: Practice and Performance in the Asia-Pacific (Routlege) - co-editor
2021 Performing and Teaching Commedia dell’Arte: step-by-step practical approaches to engaging a 21st century audience (Routledge) - sole author (in press - due June 2023)
Special Issue -
2020 Dr Michael Noble, Writing From Below - co-editor (https://writingfrombelow.org/dr-michael-noble/)
Creative Research projects -
2021 - Why Didn't She Just Leave?: exploring barriers women face when trying to escape their violent partners through virtual reality and immersive performance practice
2019 - Bone Cage (https://glamadelaide.com.au/theatre-review-bone-cage/)
2018 - VR in Theatre (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rNvBwss9KiI / https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UWd-x9Nnyc8)
Images of Research (UniSA) -
2018 - The Virtual Actor (https://theconversation.com/seven-beautiful-images-that-share-new-stories-of-science-99677)
Grants
2019 Multicultural Education and Languages Centre - to create effective training models, resources and curriculum for Commedia dell'Arte in Australian secondary schools.
2018 UniSA:Creative (formally CIL) - to lead a research project on embedding VR in theatre to enhance the audience experience. This project involved collaboration with industry professionals, The Virtual Acting Studio (Amsterdam) and BCI students who gained industry and research experience and who were mentored throughout. The success of this project lead to an invitation for Corinna to become a TEDx speaker.
The Conversartion
Di Niro, C 2020, 'Inside the Story: writer and ‘queer nomad’ Stephen House on the gritty lifestyle of an artist', The Conversation, online.
External engagement & recognition
Organisation | Country |
---|---|
Flinders University | AUSTRALIA |
Nan Tien Institute | AUSTRALIA |
The Fabulous Old Spot Theatre Company | UNITED KINGDOM |
University of Adelaide | AUSTRALIA |
University of South Australia | AUSTRALIA |
External engagement & recognition
2020 - joint project with Dr Olly Crick, London, for co-editing Commedia dell'Arte in the Asia-Pacific
2018 - student engagement and collaboration with The Virtual Acting Studio, Amsterdam, for VR in Theatre creative research project
2017 - co-organiser and keynote speaker for International Commedia dell'Arte Day
2013 - community engagement and organiser of Commedia Masterclass with Antonio Fava (Italy)
2011 - student and community engagement and organiser / performer of Italy-Australia joint Commedia showcase with Antonio Fava
Corinna is a returnting guest lecturer at the National Institute of Dramatic Arts (NIDA, Sydney), where she teaches Commedia dell'Arte for a 21st century Australian context to the BA (Fine Arts) cohort.
In 2019, Corinna volunteered her time to run a series of Commedia classes to UniSA Performing Arts and Arts Education students. The workshops were well received.
HDR examiner requests / invitations
2020 - PhD Examiner (completed):
• Going the Way of the Ancient, Phillip Kafcaloudes, La Trobe University.
2020 – Honours Examiner (completed):
• Becoming through Creative Writing: Rewriting stories from the Malaysian Indian Oral Tradition, Doris Pushpam, University of South Australia.
2017 - Honours Examiner (completed):
• Rainbow Child: Born to Undermine Heteronormativity, Ella Heywood-Smith, University of South Australia.
Teaching & student supervision