Meet MAC Instructor Pamela (Yasmina) Parker

by Lyndsey Mueller | June 26, 2017

Classes: Photography and Belly Dancing | Hobbies: Paper Crafting and Mixed Media Art

Classes make up a huge section of Mesa Arts Center where 14 studios tailor to a variety of specialties that are habitually interchanged based off the instructor’s fortes. Often, teachers in the MAC Art Studios are very knowledgeable/experienced in one medium or art form. While there is nothing wrong with specializing in only one area, it does take someone special to teach in two or more completely different categories. And that is exactly what Pamela Parker does with Photography and Belly Dancing. Talk about multifaceted!

Looking for a new and exciting way to exercise back in the late 1970’s, Pamela stumbled upon the art form of belly dancing and was hooked immediately after the first lesson. So much so that she devoted 13 years of herself to her TV show The Joy of Belly Dancing showing viewers how empowering this dance can be. Twenty-eight years later she is still teaching her greatest passion of belly dancing as Yasmina Parker. She has since created two dance companies here at Mesa Arts Center, Moonlight Sirens Tribal and Starlight Sirens Sister Tribal Belly Dance Companies, where 10 lovely ladies share their love of belly dancing through performances (some to help raise money for a local women’s shelter), classes and workshops.

While growing up Pamela had always aspired to become a photographer, but it wasn’t until her adult life that on Christmas in 2014 her husband made those dreams her reality by gifting her a DSLR camera. She was eager to start learning the craft of photography and enrolled herself in an online school based in the UK, then graduated in July 2015. During taking photos, she truly fell in love with wildlife photography (pictured above is some of her photography) and in finding her niche has brought her several features in major publications. Her ultimate dream is to capture a Bald Eagle in its natural habitat of Alaska; and while she already has her picture-perfect photography tour picked out, her more realistic goals are traveling out of her RV shooting the gorgeous landscapes that our National Parks and Monuments provide.  

Her motto for anyone thinking about picking up a camera (or wanting to try anything) is “Do It! It’s never too late to start your journey in photography or any other passion you have.” As an instructor, her mission is to get your creative juices flowing to feed your passion. Ultimately she hopes that her students gain confidence in themselves, obtain the knowledge that they can do it, as well as improve in their abilities and have fun in the process. It’s all about setting challenging – yet realistic goals for yourself and being able to conquer them! (And hey, you get to saturate yourself in your successes which is completely awesome.)

So, whether you want to move your body to spellbinding sounds or dust off that hand-me-down camera and learn how to use it, Pamela is sure to show you the momentums of either (or perhaps both). Her photography workshops include: Beginning Wildlife Photography, Beginning Nature Photography, Mobile (Phone’s Camera) Photography, Photography for Teens, and How to Take Beautiful Photos with Any Camera. While her belly dance classes may be more up to your speed with classes ranging from American Tribal Style: Beginner Basic, Beginner II, and Intermediate; to more traditional dancing styles at all three levels.

Take a peek at more of Pamela’s photography here, and Yasmina’s belly dancing here

Check out a complete list of Summer 2017 classes here

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