![]() ![]() “They dropped their egos at the door.” Another former CSUN student of Cardona's was moved by an online obituary to write, anonymously, “Her selfless work in the community as well as her compassion for her students are things that I will always remember. “I saw these big tough guys doing theater exercises,” she told the Sundial. “For me, speech communication is about finding your voice and using it to enrich your life.”Įlyssa Berger, a former student who acknowledges she had initially dreaded fulfilling her general education oral communication requirement, told the student newspaper the Daily Sundial that Cardona's class was “transforming” for her as well as for other students. ![]() “True actors are open, patient people-their skill set is not unlike that of a good therapist,” Cardona told the campus faculty-staff newspaper in a January 2011 profile. To the classroom she brought her experience in performing arts as well as her training as a mental health clinician, having returned to school following her decades-long career in theater, TV, and film to earn a bachelor's degree in psychology and theater at Antioch University Los Angeles and a master's in social work at New York University. Nevertheless, the Cal State Northridge campus community remembers Cardona best as the supportive and enthusiastic advocate who helped students find their voice as an instructor of speech communication and public speaking in the Chicana and Chicano Studies department, where she had taught since 2002. Such was her scene-stealing allure that Mattel fashioned a Barbie doll after her, releasing the “Grease Dance-off Cha Cha” in 2008 to mark the film's 30th anniversary. The audience was meant to side with the sweet and innocent Sandy in the scene, but Cardona gave Cha Cha’s character a magnetism that brought out the self-assured bad girl in all of us. Bernadette's,” who crashes the Rydell High dance-off, bumping and grinding her way to a win with Danny Zuko while a humiliated Sandy leaves the gym in a pouty huff. Her students speak of her key role in helping them find their place in the world, giving them the confidence to become the leaders of tomorrow.Annette Cardona, who died August 3 at age 63, may be best remembered internationally for her role in Grease - credited as “Annette Charles”- as bad girl Charlene “Cha Cha” DiGregorio, the self-proclaimed “best dancer at St. Even after her role in Grease, Annette always sought to give back to the community that raised her, becoming a professor of speech and interpersonal communication at Cal State Northridge’s (CSUN) Chicano Studies Department in 2002. The role made Annette famous, leading to a film career that stretched all the way to 2009. Born Annette Cardona on March 5, 1948, Annette grew up and lived in Cypress Park her whole life and almost missed her chance at stardom when she debated passing on auditioning for the role of Cha-Cha. A musical film starring John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John, Grease told the story of a whirlwind teenage romance set against the backdrop of high school, greaser gangs, and street races.Also appearing in Grease was a 30-year old Annette Charles, playing Cha-Cha Di Gregorio, the girlfriend of a rival greaser gang. ![]() “In 1978 the movie “Grease” was released to critical acclaim. Thank you to the office of Councilmember Gilbert Cedillo for moving to make this a reality, and to Anthea Cicchino Raymond for your advocacy and organizing efforts for 2+ years on this and as a boardmember. A great morning representing Highland Park Heritage Trust at the dedication of Annette Cardona Square, ! This is located at the corner of Ave 26 and Jeffries Avenue in the Cypress Park neighborhood of Los Angeles. ![]()
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