Garcia was born on November 12, 1973, at Fort Rucker, Alabama, army base. Her parents are Janelle "Nelle" Garcia and Major John Garcia, both of whom are of Puerto Rican descent. John flew aircraft in the U.S. military; Nelle, a YMCA-trained Dancer, passed her dancing skills along to Mayte. Garcia and her older sister, Janice, grew up in both Germany and the USA. Garcia spent the summers of her childhood with her extended family in San Juan, Puerto Rico. She is Catholic and is fluent in English and Spanish; she's familiar with German, but not a fluent speaker of the language. She began belly dancing at age three. On May 12, 1981, at age eight, she appeared on the American television program That's Incredible! as the world's youngest professional belly Dancer. She graduated from General H. H. Arnold High School in Wiesbaden, Germany.