Health & Fitness

Tamara Prince-Parrish is a native Memphian with a background in dance, musical theatre, and fitness. 

Tamara knew from the age of 5, after seeing the Bolshoi Ballet’s performance of the Nutcracker that she was to be a ballet dancer. She was gifted ballet lessons by her grandfather and mother to train from the age of 10 to 16, under the direction of Carlton Lee Johnson with River City Ballet Company. 

Tamara later went on to college majoring in Pre-Med Biology at Xavier University in New Orleans where she spent one semester. She moved back to Memphis to obtain her AS degree in General Studies from Southwest Tennessee Community College.  During this time she received a certificate as a Phlebotomist and worked for the University of Tennessee Health Science Center in Preventive Medicine.

Although she was intrigued and showed much interest in medicine she still wanted to dance so Tamara decide to attend the University of Memphis and studied from 2001-2003 to obtain a BFA in Theatre and Dance under the direction of Moira Logan and Holly Lau. 

After graduation Tamara taught dance with Ballet of Wheels Dance, Memphis Black Arts Alliance and more. She even did some substitute teaching with Memphis City Schools System and was the Outreach Coordinator for the Crittenden Arts Council now Delta Arts. 

While working for the Arts Council in West Memphis, AR, Tamara auditioned for Modern American Dance Company (MADCO) of St. Louis, MO and was accepted as an apprentice for 1 year and was a company member for 2 years professionally from 2005-2008. While in St. Louis, Tamara freelanced as a dance artist, choreographer, and actress in performance arts throughout St. Louis, working with Anthony “Redd” Williams, Joan Lipkin, Alicia “Sunshine” Williams, AnnoyArts, and more. 

Upon moving back to Memphis in 2009, Tamara taught and danced for Dmitri Roudnev and Mary Van Dyke. 

Tamara taught for Knowledge Quest, taught and choreographed for T L Williams Academy of Dance, Briarcrest High and Middle Schools, Lausanne School, Collage Dance Collective, The Buckman Performing Arts Center and St. Mary’s Episcopal School. She has acted and choreographed with Hattiloo Theatre (The Wiz Ensemble and Dance Captain)(Mahalia Choreographer), Playhouse on the Square (The Color Purple, 2013, Hairspray, 2014, and Memphis The Musical 2016), Circuit Playhouse, The Buckman, TheatreWorks, New Ballet Ensemble, Ballet Memphis, and GPAC. 

Tamara also taught dance at Craigmont High School during the 2009-2010 school year as a full-time teacher. During this time she began her dance company Bridging Souls Productions which went on to do many theatrical shows, collaborations, workshops, and classes in contemporary dance and ballet from 2010-2018 at The Evergreen Theatre and The Buckman. 

In addition to her work in the theatre and dance schools, Tamara worked as a Cardio Barre Instructor from 2013-2018 and taught group fitness classes for Envision Memphis for 2014-2019. 

Tamara is currently a Pro Figure bodybuilder with International Pro Elite (IPE) Natural Bodybuilding & One World United Natural Bodybuilding Alliance (OWU/NBA), and a national qualified figure Competitor with NPC National Physique Committee (NPC). Tamara is a NASM-CPT, certified in TRX, and Pilates (Mat, Reformer, EXO Chair, and Springboard). 

Tamara also personal trains at the YMCA of Memphis and the Mid-South, teaches Pilates at Club Pilates East, Club Pilates Collierville, and Core Collective Broad, and teaches modern for Ballet Memphis and Adjunct Dance Professor at the University of Memphis from 2011 to current, teaching strength and conditioning for dancers. 

In March 2020, Tamara began Train and Tone Fitness where she teaches virtual group fitness classes and personal trains. 

Tamara believes we only live once and that we all should strive to make our dreams a reality. 

Karen Roberts Turner is a native of Washington, DC and graduate of Cardozo Senior High School.  She holds an undergraduate degree from Vassar College and graduate degrees from Georgetown University and George Washington University Law School.  Karen worked as a trial attorney specializing  in medical malpractice for 22 years before accepting her current position as Senior Associate General Counsel for Health Science at Howard University nearly 8 years ago.  

Karen is a Golden Life Member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. She has held numerous positions within the organization and currently serves as Treasurer for the Board of Directors of the Delta Housing Corporation of the District of Columbia, which owns and operates Delta Towers.  She is also the Vice-President for her high school alumni association. Karen is an advocate for brain cancer awareness and a 9-year survivor. She is a fundraising ambassador for the National Brain Tumor Society. 

Karen wrote her first “book” in her the sixth grade English class.  That class was where she was first told she had a gift for writing and storytelling that was worth developing. In the years that followed, Karen continued to write and tell stories, but her focus shifted to technical and scientific works, rather than fiction, her true love. And her audience eventually became the jurors in cases she tried. However, with encouragement and inspiration from her then teenage daughter, Karen finally started writing the story that became “The Other Twin” in February 2016.  She had been trapped in the house for nearly a week, courtesy of a super storm dubbed “Snowmagedeon,” which shut down the DC area.

Karen’s debut novel was completed in 2020 and officially released on February 18, 2021. It is the first of hopefully many novels to come.

Karen lives in Washington, DC with her daughter Kendall, an architecture student at the University of Maryland College Park, and her fur baby, Duke.