Lee-Shane Booysen, a street dancer from Mitchells Plain has been crowned the 2019 Red Bull Dance Your Style champion and is now headed to Paris to compete against 30 international street dancers.
Mitchells Plain, Cape Town – 26-year-old Lee-Shane Booysen has been crowned the 2019 Red Bull Dance Your Style champion. He got the chance to compete in the competition after going head-to-head against 15 other street dancers from across South Africa.
The regional qualifiers took place in Pretoria, Durban, Cape Town, Port Elizabeth and Johannesburg. The finals took place over the weekend at the Newtown Music Factory in Johannesburg.
“This is a big moment for me, and I am excited to be the one heading to Paris to represent South Africa,” commented Lee-Shane.
“A part of me still cannot believe I have won because I thought the competition at regional level was tough, but the finals were tougher.”
Over 60 events have been held in more than 30 countries all over the world to find 30 of the best street dancers in the world. Now those dancers are gearing up to go head-to-head in Paris this October for the first-ever world final. The big decider will take place on Saturday, 12 October 2019 at Grande Halle de la Villette, Paris, France.
Lee-Shane will be joined by last years Dance You Style winner Teboho Diphehlo, who is from Soweto. During the 2018 competition, Teboho won the crowd over with moves that went beyond his trademark pantsula style. He has some words of encouragement for his fellow street dancer.
“Congratulations to Lee-Shane, he deserved it and good luck to the other dancers who made it to the finals – they too did very well,” said Diphehlo.
“We as dancers have different approaches when it comes to dancing; some do it for fun, others for healing, tell stories and educate, but if you want to win Red Bull Dance Your Style, you have to impress the audience nothing more or less.”
The final competition will see the dancers face off with one-on-one battles. They won’t choreograph their dances but rather be inspired by the music.
“There’s no planned choreography – dancers will have to thrill and rock the audience by quickly adapting their chosen style to surprising tunes, from recent global hits to old time classics. Whoever shows off the coolest steps in interaction with rhythm, lyrics and instruments, and manages to wow the crowd and win their vote, will become a crowned winner.” – Red Bull Dance Your Style.
We want to wish you the best of luck Lee-Shane, we will be rooting for you here in South Africa!
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