301 West 39th St. New York, N.Y. 10018 USA
Phone: 212-631-0588 • Fax: 212-244-4706

Listen to Dana International's No. 1 Song
DIVA

In 1972, the Cohen family was blessed with a first son. A beautiful dark eyed baby who was named after his Uncle Yaron, that was killed a year earlier during a terrorist attack. From a very early age Yaron was attracted to performing in front of an audience. His mother, Bat-Galim, and his sitter Limor, encouraged him to explore his talents in the school choir and at Tel Aviv Youth Company of Music. He had the chance of performing in the National Theater "Hamiba".

Even though his family was poor, his mother did her best to finance his music lessons and the best teachers available. At high school Yaron discovered the nightlife of Tel Aviv, he was spending more time in the club scene and "getting to know himself better". By the last high school year he knew that he wanted to become a woman. "It was not a question of identity, and there was no doubt from a very early age I behaved and looked like a girl and people used to talk to me as though I was one. To me it was natural". After graduating from high schooled with top grades, Yaron met Israel's number one producer and D.J. Ofer Nisim. Nisim having recognized Yaron's talent asked him to join his latest drag show. Yaron turned to be the leading star of the show, featuring live performances of Yaron in perfect imitations of top Israeli lady singers. Among them  was his favorite singer and widely popular in Israel and abroad, Ofra Haza. After receiving a great feedback from the audience, Nisim, decided to record a song that was a hit during the show. The song entitled "Saida" (Arabic female name), and was a parody on a Whitney Houston song. The song turned out to be a major hit, and while most of the youth in Israel were singing and dancing along, wondering who was the lady singing it, Yaron flew to London and had a sex change surgery.

Dana International had her first album during 1993, a year after the operation. Her first album reached gold. Her second album "Umpatampa" was introduced at 1994 and turned platinum by the end of that year. Dana was chosen as Israel;s best female singer of the year. In 1996, her third gold album "Maguna" (insane in Arabic) was introduced. Dana was turning into a major star not only in Israel, but abroad as well. In Egypt and Jordan more than 5 million pirate cassettes were sold, and the newspapers went wild claiming that she was corrupting the youth. At that point her music was banned. It was no longer legal to buy or listen to her music in Egypt. Meanwhile, Dana performed in L.A. and Miami, and received very good reactions as well.

In early May of 1998, Dana International represented Israel in the EuroVision Song contest that was held in the U.K., where 500 million television viewers watched the contest and 100 million viewers electronically voted for Dana International which she won with the song "Diva". After the Eurovision song contest, Dana boosted to become an International star in Europe. Dana and her producers Ofer Nisim and and Shy Cerrem signed a deal with CNR Music and are currently working on a new album "Free". The single "Woman In Love" was released in Europe in March 1999 and the preview release for the U.S. was done at Escuelita on April 10th, 1999. Over 600 CD's were given away to customers as a gift from Dana International and CNR Music. The next single "Free" which is a re-mix of the Stevie Wonder song is due to be released in Europe in June of 1999.

Dana International visited La Nueva Escuelita for the grand opening on December of 1996 and she will be back soon...

The Divas of La Nueva Escuelita wish Dana the best of luck!

WE LOVE DANA...

To purchase any of the Dana International CD's go the the Escuelita Gift Shop.