Dance
5 Iconic Moments In South African Street Dance
Street dance has always lived in the streets. In taxi ranks. On school courts. In community halls. In the space between speakers and sweat. But in the last few years, something shifted.
Part of this story
...Battles got bigger. Crowds got louder. Styles that once lived in tight-knit circles stepped onto national stages. And suddenly, street dance wasn’t just something you stumbled across — it was something you bought a ticket for.
Since launching in South Africa in 2018, Red Bull Dance Your Style has helped turn raw talent into headline moments. Not just through winners, but through cultural milestones that pushed street dance further into the mainstream.
Here are five moments that changed the game.
01
1. When the Crowd Became the Judge (2018)
Red Bull Dance Your Style Bloemfontein
© Craig Kolesky / Red Bull Content Pool
When Red Bull Dance Your Style arrived in SA in 2018, it flipped the script. Just two dancers. One track. And the crowd deciding who moves forward. That format changed everything. It meant dancers had to connect instantly — not just technically, but emotionally. It made battles accessible to first-time fans. You didn’t need to understand the intricacies of krump or pantsula to know when someone just owned a round. Street dance stopped being something you had to decode. It became something you could feel.
2. Tebza on a Red Bull Can: Pantsula Goes Global
Tebza
© Tomislav Moze / Red Bull Content Pool
When Teboho “Tebza” Diphehlo won South Africa’s first Red Bull Dance Your Style title, he didn’t just earn a trophy — he earned a passport. He went on to represent SA at the 2019 World Final in Paris, carrying pantsula — one of South Africa’s most iconic street styles — onto an international stage. Then came a moment few could have imagined: Tebza featured on a limited-edition Red Bull can. A street dancer. From the townships. On shelves nationwide. That wasn’t just branding. That was visibility at scale. Today, Tebza continues to teach, mentor and build pantsula platforms in Soweto and beyond — proof that exposure can translate into long-term impact.
02
3. The 2020 Pivot: When the Battle Moved Online
TikTok is platforming a new generation of dancers.
© Tyrone Bradley / Red Bull Content Pool
When the world shut down in 2020, dance floors went quiet. Red Bull Dance Your Style didn’t. The competition pivoted to a TikTok-driven format, giving dancers a digital arena when live events weren’t possible. And something unexpected happened: street dance reached even further. Battles entered people’s phones. New audiences discovered styles through their feeds. Dancers who had never stepped onto a national stage suddenly had global reach. It wasn’t just survival. It was acceleration.
03
4. Shanny J Breaks Through — And Changes the Narrative
Shanny J wins Red Bull Dance Your Style South Africa
© Tyrone Bradley / Red Bull Content Pool
In 2021, at the Castle of Good Hope in Cape Town, Shannon “Shanny J” Kivido made history as South Africa’s first female Red Bull Dance Your Style national champion. Her style? Bold. Theatrical. Waacking and voguing-infused performance that blurred the line between battle and show. She didn’t just win rounds — she expanded the definition of what could win. Soon after, she became the first South African female dancer to feature on a limited-edition Red Bull can — another cultural milestone. The message was clear: street dance isn’t one style. It’s a spectrum. And there’s space at the top.
04
5. When the World Final Came to Johannesburg (2022)
The D Soraki at Red Bull Dance Your Style World Final Johannesburg 2022
© Tyrone Bradley/Red Bull Content Pool
On 10 December 2022, Johannesburg didn’t just host a dance event — it hosted the world. The Red Bull Dance Your Style World Final landed at Montecasino, bringing international dancers to South African soil and putting the local scene under a global spotlight. For years, SA dancers had travelled outward to compete. This time, the world came here. And the energy proved something important: South Africa isn’t catching up in street dance culture. It’s contributing to it.
MORE ABOUT RED BULL DANCE YOUR STYLE
Red Bull Dance Your Style has done more than crown champions. It has:
- Elevated street styles like pantsula, krump, waacking and amapiano freestyle into national conversation.
- Created pathways from community cyphers to global stages.
- Turned dancers into visible cultural figures.
- Given fans a voice in shaping the outcome.
Don't miss this year's Event Series:
Red Bull Dance Your Style
Part of this story