Uptown Magazine's Interview with Mayte. An excerpt from the interview in Uptown.
Another Interview with Mayte. by Tina Malave
An Interview with Mayte on the New Power Soul site from her recent promo tour in Europe.
Born in Puerto Rico, Mayte almost seemed destined to get where she is now. She learned at a very early age the concept of discipline and the joys of traveling and education. Her father was with the military and she found herself moving from state to state, country to country. Her mother was a language teacher who strongly believed in educating her daughters. Mayte began training in classical ballet at the tender age of three in Germany. Over the years she went on to expand her her dance background to include jazz, modern, tap and flamenco. Her mother, while teaching language in Cairo, took in interest in belly dancing. Soon after her ballerina daughter not only learned the art of Belly dancing, but mastered it, becoming (at the age of sixteen) the youngest belly dancer in Cairo. "Egypt is a very spiritual place for me. My mom and I went to see the pyramids and she was so overwhelmed she started crying." This image left it's mark on Mayte, and though she lived in Germany, she continued spending her summers in Egypt.
During those years of continuous dance training, Mayte suffered a dance related injury which required her to take time off. While recovering she took time to take Voice lessons. "It was actually really wonderful." she recalls, "I found a whole new way to express myself." And express herself she did, making song as much a part of her life as her dance. Soon after she was able to get back to her first love,dance, and went on to study to become a prima ballerina at the Weisbeden Staats Theater near Frankfurt, Germany. "I was sixteen and living with my family in Germany when we heard that He (the artist formally known as Prince) was going to be plying some concert dates in Spain. My mom took my sister and I to see the show. She got all excited when he played a song, I think it was Thieves in the Temples, that had an Arabic sound to it. She keep telling me 'You have to make a tape of your dancing and send it to him'. I didn't take her seriously until I heard that he was then coming to Germany.
So we made a tape, went to the show again and afterwards went to the backstage entrance and asked the security if they would give him the tape. 5 minutes later he called me in!"
"Did you start working with Him right away?"
"No, for the next two years we kept in very close contact. He would call and asked me to send him tapes of all my performances."(including the clip of her when she was 8 years old, on the TV show 'Thats incredible', where she flips a quarter across her stomach using only her stomach muscles - which can also be seen in the 3 chains of Gold, video) "Then one day he sent me a tape of the song Thunder and asked me if I could dance to it. I choreographed a dance to the song that basically consisted of classical ballet. After I sent it to him, he called and invited to come out to Minneapolis. I didn't think much of it, but when I got there and walked into the rehearsal and just became part of their group."
"Do you think it was the dance to Thunder that finally made Him ask you to join him and the group?"
"No, I think he just wanted to wait until I was 18!", she laughs. "My first show as part of the New Power Generation (NPG) was at Glam Slam (His night club) in Minneapolis. There was really no transition point. It just all kind of came together."
She then became a featured figure in His videos, starting with the Diamonds and Pearls video and then also many of the videos from the O)+> album.
"Listening to the words in those songs, He seems to have focused the whole album around you. Is that true?"
We'll... yes. I guess over the time we were keeping in contact He was writing the songs that wound up on the album When I went out to Minneapolis He said he had some songs for me to listen to, and there they were."
How flattering, considering the whole album is packed with love songs. The O)+> Album also gave the world a small taste of her vocal abilities, singing back up on most of the songs, including Blue Light, The Max and I Wanna Melt with You. Mayte is now on her way to a solo singing career. Her first single, If I Love (represented by a heart) U 2 night, (on the 1800-NEW-FUNK album) is an alluringly sensual song that Mayte wrote and produced with His help. She also has another single, The Most Beautiful Boy in the World, which she sings in Spanish ( a language she speech fluently, as well as German). She has a great love and respect for her Latin roots, so it's only natural that she enjoys her frequent trips to Miami, Where she overlooks theatrical productions at Glam Slam Miami.
"i love Miami. It has a Latin Base and the people are wonderful. I try to spend as much time as I can there."
When can she possible fins time to visit Miami?! Between rehearsals for the start of their world tour, the production of her solo album and keeping an eye on Glam Slam, she's also getting ready to host her own TV show on FOX, which will air in Latin America! The show will be shot at several different clubs and other locations, combining dance and videos, and will feature both U.S. and Latin American musical artists. On e would think that with all her projects in the works that she would dread the thought of embarking on a world tour that basically consists of non-stop performances and travel about six days a week.
"No. I really enjoy touring. It's natural. It's like home for me."
"But do you get any private time? With all you're doing, and the company you keep, can you lead a 'normal' life?"
"Oh yeah! My life is very normal. Especially when I'm home in Minneapolis. I'm very close with my family and that really keeps me grounded."
"How do you deal with the crazy tabloid reports? The last I heard you were pregnant with His baby!"
"Did you hear something like that?" she asks me obviously shocked.
"Yep! I think it was the gossip show on E! or Hard Copy or something."
"Wow. that's weird!, she laughs, "Not true!! I'd like to have children someday but not right now."
"Do you think it will be difficult to make yourself known as an individual now that you have been linked with Him? Does that bother you?"
"No. Not at all. And I certainly don't mind being linked with Him. He's helped me so much and I really admire Him as an artist. I think the world will see many talents for what they are."
"Will you split from the N.P.G. once you start your solo career?"
"No I don't think so. Being a part of the N.P.G. still allows me to be myself and continue to grow as an artist."
"So what in the future for Mayte?", I ask her.
After a slight pause, then a confident laugh, "God will tell me. He always does!"
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