Blog Post #1: Ten Things About Me

To begin, my name is Maci Arms. I am 20 years old and I am a Senior TCF minor at the University of Alabama. I am originally from Nashville, Tennessee. Now that we have gotten all of the generic stuff out of the way, let's get to the fun part... Ten things you should know about me, starting now:

1. Dance is my passion.
I have been dancing since I was three years old and it has grown to become not just a hobby, but my passion. As a dance major here at Alabama, I have not only had the opportunity to perform as a member of Alabama Repertory Dance Theater, I have also been able to showcase my own choreography in Dance Alabama!, the fully student-run dance production here at UA. I recently choreographed my first official piece, "Big Hit", in the fall which was an amazing experience. Check it out...

2. My heart belongs in New York City.
But really... it does. I don't know what it is about the bright lights of the city that never sleeps or the constant purr of Taxis driving around town but I have always loved it and wanted to be a part of it. I spent this past summer dancing in New York City and needless to say two months wasn't enough for me. As soon as I graduate in May I am making the city my home again, and needless to say I can't wait!

My first day living in NYC!

3. I have a soft spot for Disney movies.

Call me crazy, but I don't think there is anything better than a good Disney movie. I grew up watching all the classics: Dumbo, Mary Poppins, Beauty and the Beast (just to name a few...) and I have never gotten tired of them. Maybe it's because I secretly want to be a Disney Princess and live in a world full of singing and dancing, but Disney has made some of my favorite movies of all time. However, if you ask me right now what my favorite Disney movies are, I would most definitely tell you Tangled and Frozen (if you haven't seen Frozen yet, you're missing out).

4. Revenge is one of my guilty pleasures.

Not seeking revenge obviously... I mean the TV Show on ABC. To be honest, I don't watch a lot of television at the moment because I am always so busy with rehearsals during the day, but you can bet I will not miss a single episode of Mike Kelley's Revenge if I can help it. I am always a sucker for suspenseful shows, and this provides it in just the right dosage along with the cunning and powerful female heroine, Emily. If I am not dancing on Sunday nights at 8PM, expect to find me on my couch watching it.

5. My other guilty pleasures... Game Show Network and Food Network.

Well, I love games and I love food, so obviously these are my two favorite and go-to channels if Revenge isn't on. Initially, when I came to UA, I was a double major in dance and TCF with the goals of one day becoming the host of one either a game show or a cooking show (although I'm a terrible cook so I'm not sure how that was going to cook out... pun intended). Although my plans have changed since then, I will never stop watching these channels, particularly because of Baggage on GSN and Cupcake Wars on Food Network.

6. My favorite food is sushi, or anything Asian really.

Although it's not your average person's favorite food, sushi is something that I could eat anytime of the day. I guess this is because I am a quarter japanese, so I grew up eating it. My grandma is the best cook I know, whether it's her homemade sushi, curry rice, or her famous pepper steak. It's because of her that I have such a love of Asian cuisine, so I definitely have her to thank for that. 

Because my grandparents are way cuter than a picture of a roll of sushi would be....

7. You will rarely see me without my Beats.

While I do like to believe I have a pep in my step when I walk, I actually mean this in terms of my headphones, aka Beats by Dre. As a dancer, I am constantly listening to music, so they not only provide me with great sound, but I like to think that they making listening to music obnoxiously loud across the quad look better (if not a little cooler). 

8. If I could live in any other decade, it would be the 1920s.

Flappers, Vaudeville, The Lost Generation of F. Scott Fitzgerald and his wife Zelda, big band music, and speakeasys. The 1920s is fascinating to me as an era and I know if there were such a thing as past lives, that's where I would have lived. Whether I'm reading about it or watching a movie set in that era, I can't help but to completely immerse myself in it and imagine what it would be like, especially living in New York at that time...

9. My dream career involving dance is to be a Rockette.

I'm almost positive this dream came about because I was named after the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade and every year as a little girl I would watch the Rockettes open the parade. It has been my dream to become one ever since I was a little girl. With their precision dancing and eye high kicks, they spread christmas spirit every year with their Radio City Christmas Spectacular. One day, I hope on kicking my way to the Radio City Stage myself along with these beautiful and talented women.

10. My dream career involving TCF is continue to bring dance back into film.

Although they seem like two majors in totally opposite directions, the two actually go hand in hand. If you think about classic movies in the past, a lot of them were movie musicals or had at least one musical number in them. Fred Astaire, Ginger Rogers, Gene Kelley, Judy Garland, and more graced the screens showing not only their ability to act, but also their singing and dancing abilities as well. Since then, dancing isn't as prominent in the film industry until here recently. Today, dancing is become more prevalent in movies, a trend that I hope to see continue. With the advancements in the dance world along with the film technology we have today, dance scenes in movies have the potential to be extremely elaborate, powerful, and I hope much more prominent in the film and television industry today.