Dance
JREAMZ was born to dance, and now the world is watching
Fresh off her Red Bull Dance Your Style National Final USA championship win, Phoenix freestyle dancer JREAMZ reflects on her journey, community support and upcoming world final appearance.
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Before any battles, classes or national champion titles, there was simply a girl from Phoenix who followed the music and learned to allow her body to speak through movement. For JREAMZ, dance was never just something to learn; it was something instinctive. Born Josette Sanaphay, the 18-year-old developed her love for dance at a very young age and never looked back.
JREAMZ after winning Red Bull Dance Your Style National Final 2026
© Jon Shih / Red Bull Content Pool
Dance has always been the only thing for me that I’ve only wanted to do. It’s my only passion. That’s my ride or die
“Dance has always been the only thing for me that I’ve only wanted to do. It’s my only passion. That’s my ride or die,” exclaimed the 2026 Red Bull Dance Your Style national champion during a bright Zoom video call after her stunning victory.
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From childhood performances to dance dreams
JREAMZ brings her signature freestyle style to the battle floor
© Jon Shih / Red Bull Content Pool
Early memories of pop records echoing through computer speakers paired with old-school classics played by her father and early millennial hits shared by her older sister informed JREAMZ’s taste. She revealed that in her early childhood, her mother suggested she would dance more than play with Barbie dolls or blocks.
“I remember for my fourth birthday, I did a little singing and dance performance to Justin Bieber. And then for my seventh birthday maybe, I did another performance at my birthday and I dressed as the Jabbawockeez,” reflected JREAMZ.
“Growing up and watching different dancers on YouTube, different battles and thinking, ‘Oh, that’s what I want to do!’ [Watching] ‘The Ellen [DeGeneres] Show,’ growing up and seeing different kids sing and dance on that stage, that was a big one that inspired me when I was really little. I used to go to my grandparents’ house and I would always be the one to do a little dance for my grandparents and sing for them. I used to love to sing,” she continued to share.
As her audience, her family has been there from day one, with her dad issuing her unique stage name, based on her namesake singer-songwriter Josette and her song “In a Dream.” Starting as B-Girl Dreams, she evolved into JREAMZ with the continued support from all of her relatives, especially her parents, whom she describes as the “backbone” of her emerging career.
While singing and dancing with her sister or performing mini routines for her grandparents might seem to be lighthearted, personal memories, these are the moments that pushed her to trust her own creative instincts. As she grew older, JREAMZ immersed herself in Arizona's dance community and hit the scene full throttle.
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Building her style in Arizona’s dance community
JREAMZ credits Arizona's dance community for her success
© Marina Oya / Red Bull Content Pool
JREAMZ figuratively and literally found her footing at the Jukebox Dance Studio, where she began to train in hip-hop and street styles in 2019, making sure to add the fundamentals to her arsenal. After a stint in breaking, she got more into choreography before returning to freestyling and developing her signature style. Adding crump into the mix and tallying up battles, JREAMZ has built a journey as a dancer that reflects the world around her, filtered through an imagination and individuality entirely her own.
“I’m half Vietnamese and I’m half [Laotian],” explained JREAMZ. “I feel like normally in Asian culture, dance isn’t a huge thing, but I feel like music is. That didn’t really take on into my dance world as much. ... When it comes to Arizona and the culture of dance here, we have a really good community and I feel like I’ve grown up here with a lot of great mentors and a lot of great role models.”
She added, “Even just knowing that I have the support of my community behind my back makes me want to keep going even harder. I have a lot of people that I look up to and I’m grateful to have, so I want to represent my community in the best way possible, so that also gives me motivation.”
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Winning Red Bull Dance Your Style National Final
Now a national champion and one of the United States’ most exciting freestyle talents on the global stage, JREAMZ represents a generation of dancers for whom individuality is as essential as technique. You don’t build a platform with over 50,000 followers mimicking the swagger of others. As put by the Gen Z talent, “I feel like the impact you make is a lot more important than winning.”
I feel like the impact you make is a lot more important than winning
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Preparing for the Red Bull Dance Your Style World Final in Switzerland
Training for Switzerland, JREAMZ sharpens her freestyle skills
© Jon Shih / Red Bull Content Pool
Still, fresh off her victory at the Dance Your Style national final, JREAMZ has a world title at her fingertips. After coming out on top at the national level in September, she is still processing the magnitude of the moment yet wholeheartedly preparing for the battle of her dreams. Practicing for a Dance Your Style freestyle showdown comes with training her ear to listen for familiar rhythms, basslines and pockets. Although she prefers to experiment with her crump, popping and additional creative techniques to R&B, rap or funk, JREAMZ knows from experience to expect the unexpected.
“Training to different kinds of music helps me adapt my ear and my body to react to the music,” noted JREAMZ. “Sometimes if you know the song, then you can hit the beats that you already know. But when I train with a song that I don’t know, it helps me practice that in the moment. Say there’s a sound that happens ... I can just react to it and follow it even if I may not know it. A lot of the songs for Red Bull, I didn’t know, but because there was a beat that I could anticipate even if I didn’t know it or if I heard it, I would try to hit it as best as I can in that split second.”
Ready to portray the best version of herself, JREAMZ now begins the countdown to Switzerland. Gearing up for the Oct. 24, 2026, showdown, she has essentially trained for this milestone her entire life. With her family, friends and community holding her down, the highly skilled dancer is also empowered by a fiery self-confidence. Win, lose or draw, she has earned her laurels and will enter each round with an authentic magic that comes from within.
“It’s such an honor and it’s still something that I can’t fully process and believe yet, especially all the dancers that I battled. ... Those are people that I look up to, they inspire me. Getting to represent the USA, it’s crazy,” she exulted. “I feel like I would never imagine that I would be here right now, and I’m super excited. Seeing all the dancers from the other countries and knowing I’m going to be going up against them, that’s even just an honor because I watch them and they inspire me too. I’m incredibly honored.”
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