Maia Werner’s, FCRH ’25, love for dance began at three years old when her parents signed her up for classes at The Academy of Dance Arts in New Jersey. By the time she was seven, Werner landed her first role in the studio’s spring production of “The Wizard of Oz,” where she portrayed Toto. After this, her love of dance was solidified, and she continued to flourish.
She dipped her toes into a few activities as she grew up, such as soccer, basketball and lacrosse. Soccer was her favorite, and she played on a travel team before she realized ballet was her true passion and wanted to quit all other sports to focus on dance.
For 14 years, Werner danced at the same studio, with the same teachers. “It’s kinda cool, they watched me grow up and they got to train me my whole life,” says Werner. When COVID-19 hit in 2020, she took a break from dancing and focused her time on completing her senior year of high school and becoming close with her family.
When applying to colleges, Werner only applied to one school on the east coast; can you take a guess at which one it was? She had big plans of living her college life by the ocean in California, her top school being San Diego State, but at the last minute, her heart drew her to New York City. She liked that it was something different than her original plan. One thing about my friend Maia, she is not afraid to take risks!
Growing up in New Jersey made her fall in love with being outdoors, leading her to be an environmental studies major with a double minor in real estate and sustainable business here at Fordham University. She is passionate about Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) work and wants to do something in that field after college. When she is not dancing, Werner loves to go to the beach, go on hikes with her family and, when at Fordham, sit outside on Eddie’s when it’s nice out. At school, Werner has a sweet tuxedo cat named Pluto, who is always the life of any party we celebrate at her apartment.
Werner also loves to cook for her friends and family and, as one of her best friends, I can confidently say I would hire her to be my personal chef. She loves cooking meals for her family when at her home in New Jersey, as spending time with them is extremely important to her. They often go snowboarding together and spend time outside hiking with their dogs, Franklin and Pickles.
In the second semester of her first year at Fordham, Werner found herself auditioning for The Fordham Jetés, Fordham’s ballet club. She was a bit nervous, as the last time she picked up her ballet shoes was over two years ago, but she was accepted into the club and her passion for ballet was quickly reignited.
Werner’s contributions to The Fordham Jetés never go unnoticed. She served as their publicist for her first two semesters and now holds a position as vice president of the club. As vice president, she teaches one class a week to the rest of the members of the club and also teaches an open class every Friday from 5-6 p.m. with the schedule alternating between beginner and intermediate (follow @fordhamjetes on Instagram to see the schedule).
This spring, Werner will be performing in her second performance of “The Wizard of Oz” as the Wicked Witch! If you would like to attend a performance of “The Wizard of Oz,” they will be held on April 20 at 5 p.m. and April 21 at 2 p.m. in Collins Auditorium. You can purchase tickets at the link in the bio of @fordhamjetes on Instagram.
