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Artists are Athletes. Athletes are Artists.

Carolina Performing Arts

A Series in the Making

The origins of this exciting campaign idea lie in the childhood of Alison Friedman, Executive and Artistic Director for Carolina Performing Arts. She was a dancer and her brother was a basketball player.

From an early age, she saw the similarities between the two art forms, and as Artistic Director at CPA, she knew a video could easily bridge cultures and illustrate the commonalities between artists and athletes.

Melding of Worlds

For the first film, we collaborated with Carolina Performing Arts, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, and UNC Men’s Basketball. Featuring dancer Michael Jackson Jr. and basketball player Caleb Love, the film highlights the melding of worlds between athletes and artists.

Game Recognizes Game

The series continued in 2023 with a new dynamic duo. The second video stars UNC midfielder Sam Meza and tap dance trailblazer Michelle Dorrance, daughter of legendary UNC Women’s Soccer coach Anson Dorrance.

Dizzying footwork and percussive kicks are set to an original score created in collaboration with Dorrance herself, including tap beats and sounds straight from the soccer field.

Artists and athletes alike practice to nail down their techniques, so when they step into the spotlight, everything falls away. They can do what they do best in a flow state.

Spike Hoban, Myriad Creative Director

All Eyes on Them

Both Artists x Athletes videos premiered before large crowds at UNC sporting events. As well, the videos have been seen thousands of times on CPA’s accounts and won multiple American Advertising Awards for Video Editing, Sound Design and Music Without Lyrics, as well a feature in the internationally recognized film program and publication Brand Storytelling.

Fancy Footwork

The details became the focus. Cameras zoomed in on feet doing their thing. Tightening the cleats. Slipping on the dance shoes. The arm swings. The kick. The tap. The goal. It's all a dance. Together.

Things came together because of the care and attention to detail of so many people. Details matter.

Alison Friedman, Executive and Artistic Director for Carolina Performing Arts

Behind the Scenes

As well as our main POV for the day, we had cameras rolling on the crew and talent to get a behind the scenes look at the process of upping the ante. The results were two short films that give a peek behind the lens.

Watch our BTS featurette that focuses on the crew and talent, as well as "The Women Of", a short film which celebrates all the women on set that made this project a huge success.