Mai'yah Kau

Mai’yah Kau, aka Maima, The Water Spirit, is a queer Liberian diasporic artist raised and based in New York. Their work blends West African traditions, contemporary queer performance, and ritual to create embodied storytelling rooted in ancestry and transformation. A full-spectrum doula and burlesque performer, Mai’yah moves across genres, honoring the body as a vessel of memory and possibility. Their work has been presented at Bronx Academy of Arts & Dance, Movement Research at Judson, and Snug Harbor Dance Festival. They are a recipient of the Mertz Gilmore Dance Research Award and a 2024 AiR with Dancing Futures with Pepatián.