El once de mayo/May 11th

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Photo from latina.com. Click HERE. 
¡Feliz cumpleaños a ... Prince Royce (Geoffrey Royce Rojas)! (1989-     )

An American singer and songwriter with Dominican roots who was born and raised in The Bronx, New York, Prince Royce has won 19 Billboard Latin Music Awards and 17 Premios Lo Nuestro, along with a host of other honors. He started by performing bachata (a genre of music that originated in the Dominican Republic in the first half of the 20th century and has elements of Indigenous, African, and European music) but has ventured into other types of music in recent albums (read more in this 2015 New York Times article about his first all English album). Royce started writing poetry and music at the age of 13. The second oldest of four children, he was raised by his father, a taxi driver, and his mother, a beauty salon owner. He saved the thousands of dollars needed to produce his first demo by working at Sprint. Recently, he began working with Sprint again to form The Dreams Academy, an initiative designed to help aspiring musicians meet their goals (read more HERE). See Royce speak (in Spanish) about his Dominican roots and his first English language album HERE.

For resources for teaching Spanish, Level 1 through AP, CLICK HERE.

Other May 11th birthdays of note:

Andrés Iniesta (1984-       ): A Spanish professional soccer player who plays central midfielder for Barcelona and also the Spanish national team. He is Barcelona's captain, though he recently announced that he would be leaving the club after 22 years (he started in their youth program). He is widely considered to be one of the best players of his generation. See some of his amazing skills HERE.

Salvador Dalí (Salvador Domingo Felipe Jacinto Dalí e Domenéch,
Marqués de Dalí de Pubol) (1904-1989): Spanish artist known for his surrealism. Interesting family facts! His older brother (1901-1903) was also named Salvador Dalí and when he was 5 years old his parents took him to his brother's grave and told him that he was the reincarnation of his brother. He believed them. When he was 16, his mother died (from breast cancer) and his father married her sister.

 Karla Martinez (1976-      ): A Mexican television personality who has appeared on Despierta América and hosted the show Control from 2000-2006. She attended the University of Texas El Paso.Visit her website for more information! (Picture at right from website)

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