I would dance along when she taught
at the Grapevine rec center or jump
up on stage during the after parties at
Scarborough [Renaissance Festival] and
spin until I was so dizzy!” she said. “But I
guess the main attraction was the chance to
be someone other than myself, a chance to
not be just ‘a little girl,’ not just ‘a kid going
through school.’”
Instead, Kata Maya found the amazing
opportunity to surround herself with
“inspiring older women who would guide
you through your life decisions and help
you learn how to create art and express
what you felt inside.”
The sparkling costumes, the glitter
and the glamor of it all, surely held a great
appeal for a young girl. But as she grew,
Kede, Kata Maya, and Isabella at Scarborough Faire - photo by Morgan
Kata Maya said, she learned more about
and developed a deeper appreciation for the art of belly
competition, then turned right around and, at that same
dance and the Middle Eastern culture it grew out of.
event, entered the Belly Dancer of the Universe Champion
“I fell in love with the culture,” she said, “with the music,
of Champions competition — and won that too.
the art, the history — even some of the foundations of the
“That competition was my first time to truly dive into
religion [of Islam]. While I don’t practice the religion and
my own work and develop it, with the help of Isis, Kede [an
I don’t agree with all its teachings, I have always felt like a
award-winning Wings of Isis troupe member and, at that
large part of my soul was reincarnated to grow in this dance
time, instructor for the Angels of Isis troupe] and my parents.”
— almost as if I had lived it in a past life.”
Thinking back to that competition leads Kata Maya
It’s one thing to love to dance, to enjoy taking classes
off on a tangent. While it was following in her mother’s
and spending time with friends who
footsteps that got her into dance,
dance. But to make it your career —
she wants to make it clear that her
that’s a whole different endeavor.
father, Nicholas Godbey, has also
But Kata Maya knew all along that’s
played a significant role in her dance
what she wanted to do, even before
life and dance career.
she knew that she knew.
“My dad is one of the most
“According to some people, I
influential people [when it comes
have always known I could