"When I was a boy, I used to stay with my cousin on the farm in the summers, and I always liked visiting when his church had Vacation Bible School. It didn't hit me until I was grown how much that VBS teacher did for us as kids. We had to walk by her house every morning on our way to the church. She had always gotten up early, done her wash and hung it out on the line, worked in her garden with her hand plow, and then was there at the church to greet us when VBS started at 9:00. You couldn't buy teaching materials like you can now, so she must have stayed up at night cutting things out and getting the crafts ready. She made snacks for us too. And she was always cheerful. She did all this because she thought enough of her faith in Christ to embed it in us. I still have the certificates she gave us when I was 8 and 9 years old. I've never forgotten her and what she did, and I've always wanted to pay it back. My wife and I are involved in a lot of things at church now, and one of them is teaching Vacation Bible School."
"I drive a tour bus and show people Memphis. My favorite place to take them is the National Civil Rights Museum, but we also go to the Rock 'n' Soul Museum, Stax, Levitt Shell, Lauderdale Courts where Elvis Presley used to live, and other spots. The most special thing about Memphis is the music. I couldn't tell you which kind I like best. I have so many favorites. I like 'em all."
"I spent 20 years going into schools and providing counseling for students, but it was never as fulfilling as I had hoped because of the time restraints; you don't have a lot of individual time with the kids and you're not seeing the parents. It's difficult to get to the real root of issues that way. I like teaching, and I really wanted to work with students who have emotional challenges, so I went back to school and now teach a self-contained elementary class. Since I have the kids all day, I can help them to make positive changes in their behavior and in how they see themselves. Of course, I'm teaching academic subjects as well. In fact, my students typically score as well as regular ed students on standardized tests. Once their behaviors are under control, they're able to focus on learning.
"I often think, 'How can I reach this particular student? That child with a difficult behavior?' They challenge me every day, and I'm always working on different ways to teach them. I've found that one of the most effective ways is through technology. The students love it, they cooperate with each other, they're engaged, and they challenge each other. The technology gives them a certain level of privacy, helps them feel more mature, allows them to keep moving academically, and can be customized to their learning levels. One of the things I've done is to create a website that allows them to do a lot of their work online, http://www.jedischolars.com. I enjoy teaching, and I feel I'm making a real difference." "People need to get together, no matter what color they are. If I could sit down and talk with anyone in history, it would be Dr. King. I wouldn't ask him anything. I would just say, 'You were a great man. A man of God.'"
"I remember sitting in front of the TV at five years old, watching the Bolshoi Ballet perform the Nutcracker on PBS and just being mesmerized by the elegance of the dancers, their movements, and their beautiful tutus. I wanted to move my own body like that, light as a feather, the way they did. My mom was a single parent and couldn't afford dance lessons then, but that didn't stop me. I was always dancing around the house, always imitating the ballerinas. When I was ten, my mom took an extra job, which allowed me to join the River City Ballet Academy that met at St. Matthew's church on Pendleton. I took lessons from the same teacher, Carlton Lee Johnson, until I was sixteen. We practiced every day after school from 5:30 until 9:00 at night and performed all over: Tennessee, Mississippi, Atlanta, and New York. Even though I took a short break from formal training when I was sixteen, I still freelanced, dancing at weddings, churches, and other events. "After high school, I started college as a pre-med major, but it didn't hold my interest for long. I really wanted to dance, so I changed my course of study. Up till that point, I had only done ballet, jazz, and tap, but earning a BFA in Theater and Dance at the University of Memphis allowed me to explore other forms of movement. Contemporary dance, which is a mishmash of all sorts of different techniques, was new to me, and I discovered a new freedom in dancing, a fluidity I hadn't known before. "Dance is a great outlet and a wonderful way to channel energy. Besides teaching dance at the U of M, I have my own contemporary dance company called Bridging Souls Productions, which provides instruction to students from age three through adulthood. Teenagers especially benefit from that. It allows them to excel and to change the way they see themselves. Recently, a grandparent told me that her 16-year-old granddaughter's grades went up from Ds to straight Bs after she started dance. It gave her focus, which is so important for a teen. "Everybody needs somebody to help them along the way, to help them find something they can be good at. My mother was that person for me. She was always in my corner. She used to tell me: 'You can do anything you have a mind to. We will find a way. Let's sit down and make a plan.'" Tamara Parrish is the founder and Artistic Director of Bridging Souls Productions.
BSP CLASSES MONDAY
TUESDAY
CLASS PRICE: $50 PER MONTH CONTACT: TAMARA PRINCE-PARRISH 901-240-7879 LOCATION: AWANATA HEALING ARTS CENTER 3624 AUSTIN PEAY HWY MEMPHIS, TN 38128 BSP 2015 EVENTS
March 15, 2015 Sunday 6pm-9pm Diversity on Stage Awards Ceremony Buckman Performing and Fine Arts Center 60 Perkins Extended / Memphis, TN 38117 April 17-19, 2015 Thursday-Saturday 7:30pm & Sunday 2:30pm SOUL II SOUL Hattiloo Theatre 37 South Cooper / Memphis, TN 38104 May 8-10, 2015 Friday/Saturday @8pm & Sunday @2pm Song and Dance host by The Hot Foot Honeys The Evergreen Theatre 1705 Poplar Ave / Memphis, TN 38104 November 28, 2015 Saturday 2:30pm & 7:30pm 5 Year Anniversary Concert Buckman Performing and Fine Arts Center 60 Perkins Extended / Memphis, TN 38117 "If I could sit down to dinner with anyone in the world, it would be Oprah. I'd like to talk to her about finding my purpose in life and then living it out. She's a great example of someone who's doing that."
"I'm my mother's only child. One day when I was 8 or 9 years old, I saw her changing bandages on her chest. I didn't realize till then that she had breast cancer, but she took me on her lap and explained it to me so that I could understand. She was in and out of the hospital for several years, but she always believed God would heal her. He did too. He delivered her. The cancer's gone. Healing people: that's the kind of business God specializes in. I had always believed in God, but her getting well strengthened my faith. That's the first answered prayer I ever had, that God would take care of my mama and help her live.
"The second answered prayer also happened when I was a kid. I was walking to the corner store wanting some candy, but I didn't have any money. I wasn't going to steal anything, but I sure wanted something sweet. I passed a phone booth and stuck my hand in the slot, and there was four dollars somebody had left! That just doesn't happen, not in the ghetto. So I took that money, went to the store and bought myself a cupcake, some Twinkies, Snickers, and some orange Now & Laters. God sure answered that prayer! I'm gonna get somebody to write about that one on my tombstone! (*laughs*) "I pray for people all the time. I might see something on the news, like somebody getting hurt or their house burning, and it touches my heart. I always stop and pray for them." "There weren't many opportunities in Poland when I was growing up, and my parents wanted a better future for us, so we moved here when I was twelve. I didn't speak a word of English, but the ESL classes helped a lot. When I grew up, I continued with the kind of work I learned from my father and grandfather in the wood shop when I was a boy; they both built furniture, and I do it now as well. I've been back to Poland many times through the years, but never in winter. I remember from my childhood that I was always cold there because of the Siberian fronts."
"Tell me about your dog." "I got him as a puppy and was planning to go to Florida when Hurricane Gustaf hit. I didn't get to go, but since I didn't have a name for him yet, I decided to call him Gustaf." "Memphis has a lot of great music. There's something for every mood you're in, and we've got it all here. It's what we specialize in. Blues was the first form of music ever created in America, outside of Native American music. Everything else stems from it: jazz, country, soul, rock and roll. I like how Muddy Waters put it. He said, 'The blues had a baby, and they named it Rock & Roll.' My favorite CD is Memphis Celebrates 50 Years of Rock 'n' Roll because it's a great compilation. Along with a number of other well-known artists, it has both kings and the queen: Elvis Presley, B.B. King, and Aretha Franklin." Memphis Music is located at 149 Beale Street 38103.
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