Alex Cartana
| Alex Cartañá | |
|---|---|
| Born |
Alexandra Rosamund Cartañá-Marks 7 April 1983 Sussex, England, U.K. |
| Nationality | British & Spanish |
| Alma mater |
Ardingly College University of Westminster University of Greenwich |
| Occupation | Singer-songwriter, actress |
| Years active | 2003–present |
| Website | www |
| Musical career | |
| Genres | Latin, Pop, Neo soul, World Music |
| Labels | EMI (2003–2005) |
Alex Cartañá (born Alexandra Rosamund Cartañá-Marks, 7 April 1983) is a British singer-songwriter and actress of Spanish origin. Cartañá first came to fame in 2003 as the featured artist and co-writer of the hit dance record, "Shake It (Move a Little Closer)", which peaked at #16 in the UK Singles Chart.
Alex Cartañá was born to a British mother and Spanish father, and was raised on the island of Mallorca, Balearic Islands, Spain, in the city of Palma. Cartañá spent her academic years between both English and Spanish educational systems, making her fully bilingual from a toddler. She is also able to speak a third language Catalan.
Cartañá’s academic career began in a small farming, rurally-located British school in Mallorca - The Academy – English Preparatory School. At 11 years of age, she moved to a strict Spanish Catholic School in the centre of Palma - Colegio San Cayetano. By the age of 17 she had convinced her parents to transfer her into the British schooling system, this time attending Ardingly College, a British Boarding school in West Sussex, so she could study Performing Arts. It would be here that Cartañá would start developing her performance skills through theatre studies, speech and drama lessons, and an acting course with LAMDA, as well as forming the school's first gospel choir who, in their spare time, practiced songs such as Whitney Houston's version of "Jesus Loves Me" and mimicking En Vogue's "Does Anybody Hear Me".
Her father’s love for world music, including Spanish Flamenco and Brazilian bossa nova, would instil a tropical and exotic feel to her music. A Spanish pop and American popular music influence also could be heard during her early years. Later on she would be captivated by mainstream R&B and hip hop, which, in her own words, has been described as "my childhood deprivation, which I had been longing to hear all my life! The missing part of the puzzle!" Her influences have included Gloria Estefan, Mariah Carey, Whitney Houston, Michael Jackson, Madonna, Toni Braxton, Boyz II Men, Stevie Wonder, Cece Winans, Nat King Cole, Mary Wells, her mother's all-time-favourite Marvin Gaye, Aretha Franklin, Randy Crawford, Roberta Flack, Gladys Knight & the Pips, Diana Ross & The Supremes, Alejandro Sanz, Rosario Flores, Mary J. Blige, and many more.
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