Wolf Trap Welcomes a New Cohort of Teaching Artists

Apr 03, 2024

New Class of Teaching Artists Includes a Celtic and Scottish Highlands Dancer, a “Kindie” Rock Star, a Playwright, and an Inclusion Advocate, Among Others

In many ways, Wolf Trap Teaching Artists are the ambassadors for Wolf Trap in the classroom. That is why Wolf Trap Institute for Early Learning Through the Arts takes its new artist recruitment so seriously. Its professional development team looks for specialized artists who excel in their arts discipline and are representative of the communities they serve. Prospective teaching artists are passionate about their art, enthusiastic about working with young children, and invested in the professional development of educators. This year, Wolf Trap is excited to welcome eight new teaching artists to its roster, who will focus their work primarily in the greater Washington, DC region.

Get to know Wolf Trap’s newest class of teaching artists:

Christine Galante is a performer and teaching artist specializing in music, dance, and theater. As a dancer, Galante has worked with students from early childhood through adulthood in percussive dance, jazz, and musical theater. She is currently a Music and Dance Teaching Artist at the Lucy School in Middletown, MD. Her experience also includes work with “Creative Kids,” a literature-based drama program, process drama at the Lucy School, and collaboration in the creation of “RC Dance Discovery.” She has been a dancer with Footworks Percussive Dance Ensemble, Rhythm in Shoes, and is the foot percussionist and dancer for Canadian Juno winners, The Duhks. Galante has performed at a wide variety of venues, from theme parks to regional theater, community productions, and even her own backyard.

Marsha Goodman-Wood leads the Washington, DC-based band Marsha and the Positrons. Marsha and the Positrons specialize in fun songs about science and how the world works with positive social messages and have performed at Wolf Trap’s Children’s Theatre-in-the-Woods. Marsha is a former cognitive neuroscientist and award-winning songwriter, known for her clever original songs mixing science facts with messages about kindness and friendship. Her teaching experience includes music classes for babies and toddlers and their caregivers, music and drama for preschool students, and music and drama enrichment classes for elementary students. Goodman-Wood is also a Wolf Trap Teaching Artist with Arts for Learning Maryland.

Mollie Greenberg is an actor and teaching artist originally from Ohio. She has performed with Rorschach Theatre, Studio Theatre, InterAct Story Theatre, and works regularly at the Puppet Co. She is a creator and performer of the Bixby the Cat series, which is part of Tiny Tots at the Puppet Co. Greenberg teaches drama classes with Imagination Stage and The Keegan Theatre. As a formerly shy child who found her voice through theater, Greenberg loves helping other children do the same. She has a B.A. in Drama and Chinese from Kenyon College.

Althea Grey-McKenzie is an award-winning artist and visiting scholar in dance, theater, and cultural programming.  She has more than 20 years of experience as a teaching artist for kindergarten through high school and in youth programming. Grey-McKenzie has traveled abroad and throughout Washington, DC, Maryland, and Virginia to share her passion for dance and movement. Her newest works were developed for youth in Takoma Park, MD where she was awarded for folklore dance-theater and for producing cultural pilots for local television. Grey-McKenzie continues to serve the community by curating culturally and historically relevant work at her studio and for diverse audiences.

Alana Hill joins Wolf Trap with more than 20 years of experience as an arts educator/administrator in Washington, DC’s local arts scene, particularly in dance and theater. With a Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration and a concentration in Art, she serves as the Executive Director and Founder of Elements Urban Arts Collective (EUAC), dedicated to broadening the influence of Hip Hop and urban art. Along with directing four theatrical productions, she’s danced with Life, Rhythm, Move Project and Contradiction Dance, while instructing Hip Hop at various institutions like CityDance Center, Joy of Motion Dance Center (where she was Program Director for the H.Y.P.E. Youth Hip Hop Program), and Bullis School. Hill’s teaching ethos centers on encouraging students to explore their inner performer, fostering uninhibited expression, and ensuring an enjoyable and transformative learning experience.

Preston Hilliard is a teaching artist and inclusion facilitator from Asheville, North Carolina. She has a range of theater experiences and is passionate about integrating inclusion for all abilities into the classroom. Since moving to the Washington, DC region, she has worked with theater students at several local programs and interned with The Keegan Theatre, assisting with on-site programming, and compiling a guide of inclusive practices as an extended project. She graduated with a B.S. in Communication Sciences and Disorders from Appalachian State University.

Lucinda McDermott began working with arts integration as a Fellow with A+ NC Arts Integration. Her artistic practice includes working as an actor, playwright, director, and musician. McDermott collaborates with her husband on an Americana musical duo called Ball & Chain. Her instruments are guitar, mandolin, bass, harmonica, and hand percussion. McDermott’s work includes her solo play, “O’Keeffe!”, the creation and direction of a multi-arts camp on the campus of Radford University and touring as a teaching artist with the Virginia Commission for the Arts. She is an Actor’s Equity Association Actor and member of The Dramatists Guild of America. Lucinda holds a B.F.A. in Theatre/Performance from Virginia Commonwealth University and an M.F.A. in Theatre/Playwriting from the University of Virginia.

Marsha Searle is a professional dancer, singer, choreographer, teacher, director, musician, and historian. Traditional music and dance inspire her, and she loves sharing its beauty. Searle currently serves as Director of Footworks Percussive Dance Ensemble, where she has danced for more than 15 years. She has also been a member of the Celtic Band “IONA” since 2018, performing Celtic dance and music. Searle has studied ballet and Scottish Highland dancing and earned B.A. degrees in World Dance and History from Brigham Young University. She is also a Wolf Trap Teaching Artist with Arts for Learning Maryland.

To learn more about becoming a teaching artist with Wolf Trap, visit: Wolf Trap Employment.