Roxane McWilliams
Get to know Metro Theater Company’s Creative Arts Camp teaching artist Roxane McWilliams!
If you could have any pet in the world, what would it be and why?
That is a hard question because I love animals and think they all have wonderful unique qualities. That being said, if I could have any animal in the world, I would stick with the ones I know how to take care of. So many older cats and dogs have no home and no one to love them. I would love to have the room to care for them.
What do you enjoy about teaching young people?
I enjoy the curiosity and imagination young people carry within themselves. There is a positive energy to that, and it fills the space.
What is your favorite snack food?
It depends on the day. Today, it is pineapple, but tomorrow it could be something very different, perhaps, popcorn.
What do you love about theater?
I love the collaborative process that goes onto a piece of theatre as so many art forms are embedded in a theatre piece. Theatre allows artists to use text, voice, movement, music and visual art to tell a story.
What is one of your favorite children's books?
This is more difficult to answer than choosing a favorite snack food! I love the books created by David Wiesner such as Tuesday, Sector 7, and Flotsam as well as Oliver Jeffers' books such as Lost and Found, Stuck, and How to Catch a Star. But there are so many more!
What are you most looking forward to at Metro Theater Company summer camp?
I love the feeling of community that develops Creative Arts Camp. We all share ideas and explore multiple art forms. Most importantly, we laugh together and have fun.
Roxane McWilliams is a teaching artist, actor and musician. Over her 27-year career as an educator, she has taught wide array of learning levels, ranging from preschool through high school in both public and private school settings. Roxane began her teaching career as a music and art specialist in a Montessori early learning environment and then moved to the public school setting as a middle school speech and drama teacher. In 2008, she shifted from the traditional classroom to become a teaching artist with Metro Theater Company and COCAEdu. Through these arts organizations, Roxane has taught numerous arts integrated classroom residencies in schools as well as facilitating professional development for teachers throughout the St. Louis metro area. In addition to her work as a teaching artist, Roxane has been an arts education consultant for the Missouri Arts Council coaching and supporting classroom teachers as they developed strategies to integrate the arts into their teaching practice. As an actor, Roxane has performed with many St. Louis theater companies, most notably, Metro Theater Company. Roxane also writes and performs music for children. She plays a variety of instruments including, piano, accordion, and ukulele. Roxane received her B.F.A. in acting from the University of Connecticut and her M.Ed. in curriculum design from the University of Missouri-St. Louis. Roxane is an Orff-Schulwerk certified teacher in music and holds her Missouri teacher’s certificate in the area of Speech and Theater.