Dance
Meet Mels, the French competitor for Red Bull Dance Your Style
Learn how this French dancer secured her place at the Red Bull Dance Your Style World Final in Paris and why B-Boys might be her fiercest rivals.
Mels has an impressive ability to dance to a beat. But it might come as a surprise when you learn that she never set out to become a dancer.
“To me, my biggest accomplishment so far is being a professional dancer," she says. "I had no idea it was my purpose – I studied marketing and I have a masters degree. I wasn’t supposed to dance as my career. But I’m really happy that I did, that I made it and I really love my job."
A long-time hip-hop head, Mels watched from afar for a time before making the decision to give dance a shot. She learned skills and battle techniques from her crew members and brothers in Red Ribbon Crew.
Not long after Mels found herself performing on tour with various artists, owning her own dance school and taking home titles. “The biggest thing that motivates me is the competition," she says. "I love doing battles a lot because they push me to train. When I was young, the first battle I ever saw was a video from Juste Debout. Watching it, I thought that if I could participate in a battle like that even once, that could be enough for me. That was the goal.”
After securing herself a spot at the Dance Your Style World Final, Mels is keen to keep pushing her potential as far as possible. “The biggest challenge for me now is to improve myself and to dance at the best level that I can have," she says. "I want to practise a lot and to do more competitions and gain more and more dance work.”
In a typical week, you can find Mels at her dance school, La Loft Studio, which is in Sartrouville, France, where she takes care of admin in the day, trains in the afternoon and then teaches classes during the evenings. “The best place for me to feel creative is in my studio," she says. "This is where I’m alone, listening to the music I like and I’m focused on myself.”
Ahead of the finals, Mels admits she’s not putting too much pressure into her preparation. “I’m not practising for the World Final in Paris because the clue is in the title of the event, Dance Your Style – I think it's a battle where you’re better if you show what you have already. This battle isn't like other competitions. It depends on the music, on the crowd, you can’t put too much thought into how to control the outcome. You just have to come with your own skills and see what happens.”
That’s not to say Mels doesn't have her eyes on her opponents. “I think with the type of format Dance Your Style has, where the crowd is the judge, some people might not be familiar with all the styles, so when they see B-Boys like Neguin or Kriss – I think they’ll be my hardest competitors.“
With a heavy footwork style already in place, Mels says she’s keen to add house dance to her skill set. “The music is just my life and it’s the most important thing for me," she says. "I’d like to work on house dance because I love that genre so much.”
