| Mayte Garcia | |
|---|---|
| Born | Mayte Janell Garcia 12 November 1973 Fort Rucker, Alabama, United States |
| Occupation | Dancer, singer, actress |
| Years active | 1981 – present |
| Spouse | Prince (1996–2000) |
Mayte Jannell García ( /ˈmaɪteɪ/; born 12 November 1973) is a dancer and singer, best known as the former wife of pop star, Prince. Born on a military base in Alabama, García's parents (who are of Puerto Rican and Egyptian ancestry) relocated throughout the United States and Germany as a result of her father's military reassignments.
Mayte appeared on the American television program That's Incredible! at the age of 8 as the world's youngest professional belly dancer. She graduated from Wiesbaden American High School in Wiesbaden, Germany the same high school that Priscilla Presley attended while dating Elvis.
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Garcia was born to Janelle "Nelle" Garcia who is of Puerto Rican and Egyptian descent and her father Ret. Major John Garcia of Puerto Rican descent. Garcia was born on November 12, 1973 on an Alabama army base. Nelle Garcia, a school and dance teacher, passed her dancing skills along to Mayte. John Garcia flew aircraft in the U.S. Military. Garcia has an older sister, Janice. Mayte grew up back and forth between Alabama, and Germany, and spent her summers with her extended family in San Juan, Puerto Rico. She is Catholic and fluently speaks English, Spanish, German and some Hindi. She began belly dancing at the age of three, and became a professional at age eight.
Garcia first came to the attention of Prince in 1990 when her mother, Nelle, submitted a video cassette of Garcia's performance. Prince met the young dancer during the same year while on tour in Germany and eventually she was hired to dance on his Diamonds and Pearls tour. Her role was soon elevated as she became the focus of his next album, Love Symbol, and assumed the guise of an Egyptian princess for the concept album and the 3 Chains o' Gold video compilation.[1]
When Prince slimmed down The New Power Generation and changed his stage name to an unpronounceable symbol, Garcia revealed to fans her Puerto Rican heritage, remained in The NPG as a dancer, and often provided English and Spanish vocals on his albums. Garcia was in The New Power Generation from late 1991 to 1996. Afterwards, she was still an associate of the NPG.
In 1995, Prince produced an album for Mayte entitled Child of the Sun for a European release on his NPG Records label. This album was noted for the single "If I Love U 2nite".
In 1996, 22-year-old Garcia married her 37-year-old fiance Prince on Valentine's Day, in Minneapolis. Garcia wore a white dress designed by herself and Bonnie Flesland, who was working for Prince as his wardrobe director/designer, and held a necklace with Prince's glyph at the time during her vows. White doves were released after the ceremony. The two went honeymooning in Hawaii.[2]
Two months later, Garcia discovered she was pregnant with the couple's first child. She was very proud of being an expectant mother; while very pregnant, she did an interview with "The Artist", while wearing a short black dress with "baby" written on her chest, and below an arrow pointing at her stomach.[3] The child (named Boy Gregory) died a week after he was born due to Pfeiffer syndrome, a rare skull defect.[4]
In 1997[5] she was the artistic director of the New Power Generation Dance Company[6] on their Around the World in a Day tour.[7] But, due to lack of funds, the initiative didn't succeed.[8]
She also directed the music videos for "The One" for Prince[9] and for other artists like Chaka Khan and Graham Central Station.[10] All three were collaborating in 1997–1998.
In 1998, Prince announced the couple's divorce. On their third wedding anniversary, the marriage was annulled. They formally divorced in June 2000. After leaving Prince, Garcia had a relationship with Mötley Crüe drummer Tommy Lee from 2000 until 2002.
She choreographed the belly dancing routines that Britney Spears danced for her 2001 music video "I'm a Slave 4 U" and her performance at the MTV Video Music Awards.
García has guest starred on the various television series, such as Psych, The Closer, Las Vegas, Nip/Tuck, and Keeping Up with the Kardashians. She appeared twice as a reporter on the 2007 ABC television series Big Shots. She had a recurring role on Lifetime's Army Wives (2008-2009) as Jennifer Connor. Film appearances include Firehouse Dog (2007) and as a dancer in the Hindi film Dus (2005).
She starred on Sí TV's 2004-05 program Across the Hall with Eric Cubiche.[11] In 2009, she was a judge on the first season of Oxygen's Dance Your Ass Off.