--- title: Lorde's 2017 MTV Video Music Awards Dance Becomes a Meme description: She choreographed an interpretive dance to "Homemade Dynamite" canonical: https://time.com/4917961/lorde-dance-mtv-vmas-2017/ author: Mahita Gajanan article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-08-28T02:36:12.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T07:46:51.368Z og:title: The Most Useful Memes of Lorde's VMA Dance Are Here og:description: She choreographed an interpretive dance to "Homemade Dynamite" og:url: https://time.com/4917961/lorde-dance-mtv-vmas-2017/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9563006404d24987/6988db654ee262faec30ebf2/mtv-video-music-awards-49.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 2560 og:image:height: 1440 og:image:alt: MTV-VMAS-2017 og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: The Most Useful Memes of Lorde's VMA Dance Are Here twitter:description: She choreographed an interpretive dance to "Homemade Dynamite" twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9563006404d24987/6988db654ee262faec30ebf2/mtv-video-music-awards-49.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # It's Time to Embrace Lorde's VMA Dance As Your New Favorite Meme > Sponsored content. 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Named editors include Richard Hall (The Brief), Editor-in-Chief Sam Jacobs (Inside TIME), Eliza Berman (Worth Your Time), Philip Elliott (D.C. Brief), Justin Worland (Future Proof) and Harry Booth (In the Loop). Health Matters is written by TIME's health desk. #### How do I sign up for a TIME newsletter? Go to time.com/newsletters, choose the newsletters you want and enter your email address. There is no cost and no subscription requirement. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-network-2026q3/newsletters?i=8694a558-c022-4df3-af97-039df408f516&cr=time-nl-network-2026q3-v1) by [Mahita Gajanan](https://time.com/author/mahita-gajanan/) ## Mahita Gajanan Gajanan is an editor at TIME. Aug 28, 2017 2:36 AM UTC  Lorde performs onstage during the 2017 MTV Video Music Awards at The Forum on August 27, 2017 in Inglewood, California. Lorde performs onstage during the 2017 MTV Video Music Awards at The Forum on August 27, 2017 in Inglewood, California. Kevin Winter—Getty Images by [Mahita Gajanan](https://time.com/author/mahita-gajanan/) ## Mahita Gajanan Gajanan is an editor at TIME. Aug 28, 2017 2:36 AM UTC Lorde’s performance at the [2017 MTV Video Music Awards](http://time.com/4903945/mtv-vmas-2017-watching-guide/) became an immediate meme. Instead of singing “Homemade Dynamite,” the singer, who tweeted earlier in the evening that she [had the flu](https://twitter.com/lorde/status/901951101842235392), opted to choreograph an interpretive dance — and the internet went wild in confusion. A lot of people compared her to Napoleon Dynamite. > [](https://twitter.com/XoxRooXox/status/901971815802818564) > [](https://twitter.com/nessaxbauer/status/901972407837065216) > [](https://twitter.com/Dr%5FDr%5FRamon/status/901970460971327489) Some saw a little of the _OA_ in her. > [](https://twitter.com/MaggiePalozzi/status/901970654827827200) > [](https://twitter.com/BlondieeWood/status/901985648223105024) > [](https://twitter.com/BriCutter/status/901971009305280514) Others continued to love and appreciate Lorde’s artistry. > [](https://twitter.com/deadlostboy/status/901972075325394945) > [](https://twitter.com/jbars97/status/901970533750898690) ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4917961/lorde-dance-mtv-vmas-2017/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4917961/lorde-dance-mtv-vmas-2017/"},"headline":"It's Time to Embrace Lorde's VMA Dance As Your New Favorite Meme","datePublished":"2017-08-28T02:36:12.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:46:51.368Z","description":"She choreographed an interpretive dance to \"Homemade Dynamite\"","url":"https://time.com/4917961/lorde-dance-mtv-vmas-2017/","keywords":["Newsfeed","Music","onetime","MTV VMAs 2017"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9563006404d24987/6988db654ee262faec30ebf2/mtv-video-music-awards-49.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Mahita Gajanan","jobTitle":"Gajanan is an editor at TIME.","url":"https://time.com/author/mahita-gajanan/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9563006404d24987/6988db654ee262faec30ebf2/mtv-video-music-awards-49.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"MTV-VMAS-2017","caption":"2017 MTV Video Music Awards - Fixed Show","creditText":"Kevin Winter—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4917961/lorde-dance-mtv-vmas-2017/","name":"It's Time to Embrace Lorde's VMA Dance As Your New Favorite Meme"}}]}] ```