Rosanna Tavarez
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
February 10, 1977
- Singer
- television host
- dancer
- teacher
Rosanna Tavarez | |
|---|---|
| Born | Rosanna Tavarez February 10, 1977 New York City, U.S. |
| Occupations |
|
| Spouse |
Andres Baez (m. 2003) |
Rosanna Tavarez[note 1] (born February 10, 1977) is an American singer, television host, dancer, and teacher. She rose to prominence in 2001 as a contestant on the American version of the reality television franchise Popstars. As one of the show's five finalists, she became a member of the girl group Eden's Crush. In the same year, they released their debut studio album and its lead single "Get Over Yourself", but disbanded after their record label London-Sire Records closed.
After Eden's Crush, Tavarez worked as a host on music television shows and recorded Latin alternative music. Under the stage name Chana, she released the extended play (EP) Manos Arriba in 2008. Tavarez has subsequently transitioned away from music and has instead focused on teaching and dance.
Rosanna Tavarez was born on February 10, 1977, in New York City[3][4] and was raised in the city's Washington Heights neighborhood.[5] Her parents—Frank and Lelia Tavarez—were born in the Dominican Republic.[4][6] Her mother worked as a seamstress, doing piece work at home,[5] and according to a Warner Bros. press release, her younger brother, Omar, became a "jazz drummer".[7][8] Tavarez stayed connected with Latino culture through her close relationship with her grandmother and being surrounded by Spanish-speaking people[4] as well as Latin music, such as salsa, méringue, tropical music, and Latin pop.[4][5] She became interested in music and dance at a young age, being inspired by the musical Annie and imitating the Solid Gold dancers and ballerinas in The Nutcracker.[5][8] Initially dancing salsa and merengue in her family's living room, she started ballet lessons when she was three years old.[9]
At age nine, Tavarez moved from New York City to Miami and attended the New World School of the Arts, which is a magnet school focused on the visual and performing arts.[5][10] She studied dance as an undergraduate student at the University of Michigan,[5] and credited her first semester as the point in which she "consciously shifted and embraced a career as a dancer".[9] She went to major in choreography at the Ohio State University's graduate program.[5] Along with these studies, she spent a summer in the Dominican Republic to research Afro-Dominican dance and music.[4][7] Tavarez remained connected to New York City, saying her goals there were to sing in a band and to be in a dance company before becoming a dance teacher.[6][10]
Tavarez tried to join a New York dance company, but returned to Miami; while there, she was approached by Latin music producers who thought her appearance would make her an ideal Latin pop singer. She rejected their offers because she felt unprepared for a music career. At the time, she had only performed in karaoke and did not have any vocal training. In a 2008 interview with the Los Angeles Times, Tavarez recalled she did not want to be "just another girl doing Latin-y pop", instead preferring to develop "something distinctive, even if the crowd would be more niche".[5]