DWe Williams - Rhythmically Speaking
Contact Information:
DWe Williams
Email:
Discipline:
Theatre Arts/Storytelling
Participants:
Early Childhood, Elementary, Middle School, Hight School, Adults, Educators, Older Adults, Youth with Disabilities, Adults with Disabilities, At-risk Youth
Settings:
Schools: Pre-k, Elementary, Middle School, High School, Alternative Education
Community Sites: Parks & Recreation Centers, Arts Centers, Childcare Centers, Libraries, Senior Centers, Health Care Facilities
Availability:
Statewide, Year-round
Bio:
DWe Williams has 40 years of experience as a teaching artist and storyteller. A noted dramatist, Williams has a Bachelor in Speech and Theatre Education from North Carolina A&T State University. She also has a master’s degree in creative drama and children's theatre from Southern Illinois University. Williams’ training and experience include Core Knowledge curriculum, the Great Expectations professional development program, and multigenerational and arts integration programming.
As the lead teacher with High Five Integrated Arts, Williams is responsible for designing and carrying out multigenerational and early childhood integrated arts activities. Working with a team of four to five artists, Williams provides services for six sites ranging from early childhood to adult day programs.
In 2015, Williams began developing Community of Practice staff development sessions for Sunbeam Family Services – Educare, directed to expand teachers’ creative use of the arts in developing early literacy and supporting global early childhood development. If you have a need for interactive curriculum enrichment, High Five is your answer. Storytelling and drama are used as a primary tool to enhance arts integration while students create and participate in storytelling and learn the value of this oral tradition in society. Songs, movement, and visual art projects may also be used to enrich the learning process.
When joining Williams in a story, audiences sing, laugh, and learn while traveling though cultures, history, and tradition. Come travel with Williams to “Brookstown” where she grew up in small neighborhood and “once” walked home from school by herself. She learned everything she knows about cooking from her mother, “Ms. Lillie,” and made flip flops from cardboard to sell to neighborhood friends. Who knows what “tales” Ms. DWe will tell?
Explore diverse perspectives from a teaching artist, end-user, and funding partner. Participants explore building working relationships to develop an intergenerational and collaborative arts program.
Learning Goals:
- Demonstrate the use of storytelling, creative drama, and theatre to enhance curriculum and learning
- Develop respect, appreciation, and understanding of storytelling, and explore storytelling techniques
- Expand ability to see other's points of view
- Develop cultural understanding through storytelling and drama
- American Alliance For Theatre and Education Standards 1-8 will be applied