BYU Dancers Become Meme

It’s difficult to miss their pictures in the BYU Dance display cases within the Richards Building, but Contemporary Dance Theatre dancers Joey Anderson and Roman Curiel were surprised to find their photos somewhere else- as a meme! On January 23, popular Facebook page BYU Memes shared a hilarious photo featuring the dancers defying gravity next to a reference of the animated film Toy Story. With the joke claiming they weren’t dancing but “falling with style” (We know you read that in Woody’s voice), Curiel couldn’t help but laugh: “I thought it was pretty funny that someone would use our pictures. Joey and I have had quite a bit of banter about it”. Anderson also joked about his new social media fame, “I found out I was made into a meme, because my friend Lauren Evans tagged me in the Facebook post. The theme for our promotional photo shoot actually was 'Falling' so I guess we captured it well.”

Image: Jeremy Halversen

Creator of the viral hit, Jeremy Halversen, shared his inspiration for the post. “Honestly, I walk by those displays in the RB quite a bit and a couple of days ago the line from Toy Story just popped into my head. I thought I’d just put them together. I have mad respect for the dancers’ ability, and the quote applied all too well for me to not make a meme of them.”

Currently, the dancers are preparing for CDT’s upcoming show. BYU Contemporary Dance in Concert runs February 7-9 in the Pardoe Theatre of the Harris Fine Arts Center and it will be a performance not to be missed. CDT Artistic Director Nathan Balser spoke to the show’s celebration of the human experience as the dances ask questions about the future, comment on family relations, express empathy and inspire. Balser shared, “I'm really excited about this concert. I feel like the breadth and depth of the material is very current to the discussion of dance. A little bit of something for everyone while still giving dance-minded audiences something to chew on.”

The show will include five works from diverse, current choreographers, as well as two collaborative works from across the Department of Dance. “We are hosting the Department of Dance’s collaboration and performance of Martha Graham's Dark Meadow. Additionally, we are also collaborating with BYU Young Dancemakers on an all-male piece called Spidget Finners, highlighting boys aged 7-18 years old.”

Curiel could hardly contain his excitement about what the concert has in store for audiences, “The concert is the opportunity for everyone in the audience to experience a wide variety of contemporary dance repertoire. I think it can really reach anyone as it’s an opportunity to see diverse movement.”

The show opens tonight so get your tickets fast at BYU Arts!