Dance
Red Bull Dance Your Style Qualifier West lights up Las Vegas
Freestyle dance meets the Las Vegas Strip as Red Bull Dance Your Style Qualifier West. Jabari Gooding wins the crowd vote and punches his ticket to the national final.
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Las Vegas doesn’t wait for permission to turn up and on March 21, neither did the dancers.
Inside KAOS at the Palms, Red Bull Dance Your Style Qualifier West brought freestyle dance battle culture to the Strip, where instinct replaced choreography and the crowd had the final say. Sixteen dancers stepped into a 1-on-1 bracket with no pre-planned music, no rehearsed routines - just raw reaction, musicality, and presence.
From the first round, the tone was clear: this wasn’t about perfection. It was about connection. Each track shift rewrote the rules in real time, forcing dancers to adapt on the fly and pull from a full spectrum of styles. Hip-hop, house, popping, flexn - everything was fair game, as long as it moved the room.
Harini dancing at Red Bull Dance Your Style Qualifier West
© Marina Oya / Red Bull Content Pool
iLLmani dancing at Red Bull Dance Your Style West
© Marina Oya / Red Bull Content Pool
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Jabari Gooding wins Red Bull Dance Your Style Qualifier West
Jabari Gooding claimed the Qualifier West title, earning his place at the Red Bull Dance Your Style National Final in Tampa on September 19.
For Gooding, the win carried added weight. Having previously competed on the national stage in 2025, he returned to the circuit with experience - and a deeper connection to the moment.
“This is my dream,” he said after the battle. “Winning and holding that trophy means everything to me.”
Jabari Gooding wins Red Bull Dance Your Style in Las Vegas, Nevada
© Marina Oya / Red Bull Content Pool
I lived in Vegas for 2.5 years and the city has always shown so much love and appreciation. Having that energy behind me and being familiar with the Red Bull Dance Your Style stage allowed me to be more comfortable showing more of myself.
With past ties to Las Vegas, the energy of the city - and the crowd - wasn’t lost on him. That familiarity showed in his performance, where confidence and comfort translated into a stronger connection on the floor.
By the time the final matchup arrived, the room was locked in. Returning competitor Gooding faced off against Las Vegas native Janiya Jaggers-Banks in a showdown that brought contrasting styles and sharp musical instincts to the forefront. Both dancers met the moment, trading rounds that balanced precision with personality.
Gooding’s approach - rooted in flexn, the Brooklyn-born style known for its contorted shapes and dancehall roots - cut through with a mix of control and unpredictability. Layered with hip-hop elements, his performance built steadily, pulling louder reactions with each round.
When the final vote came in, the crowd made it clear.
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The road to the Red Bull Dance Your Style National Final
The energy at Red Bull Dance Your Style Qualifier West was unmatched
© Michael Kirschbaum / Red Bull Content Pool
Learn more about Red Bull Dance Your Style
The Las Vegas qualifier marks one step in a global circuit that continues to spotlight freestyle dance on an international stage.
Next up, Gooding joins other regional winners and wildcard entries at the national final in Tampa, where the stakes - and the spotlight - only get bigger. From there, the path leads to the world stage, where the same rules apply: no choreography, no predictability, just the music and the moment.
In a format where anything can happen, that’s exactly the point.
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