This Saturday, March 25th, 16 street dancers will dance their way into the hearts of the crowd at Crosstown Concourse in hopes to earn a spot to compete in the Red Bull Dance Your Style Chicago National Final in May.
The Saturday event, in which dancers will compete one-on-one in a single-elimination bracket, serves as the first qualifier of eight for that final battle in Chicago. The dancers won’t know their music beforehand, so they won’t have any choreography planned. Instead, they’ll have to rely on their freestyle instincts and musicality skills. Without a panel of judges, their progression through the competition depends on the crowd vote.
The dancers set to compete in Memphis are from all around — from New Orleans to Detroit. But three competitors have a home-field advantage: defending Red Bull Dance Your Style Memphis champion Jadyn Smooth and jookin’ specialists Gangsta E and Trent Jeray. And those are the three for whom host Ladia Yates will be rooting.
A dancer in Memphis herself, Yates, also the founder of L.Y.E Academy, understands what sets Memphis jookin’ apart from other street-dance styles that’ll be on display at the qualifier. “It’s not like one of those ‘I watched a music video or something and I copied some moves,’” she says. “It has a rich culture behind it. It has a certain swag. It consists mainly of cool footwork — dope footwork — and it has, like, a ballet technique to it. … It stands out.”
Jookin’ won’t be the only Memphis representation at the event: Memphis hip-hop legends Duke Deuce and NLE Choppa will also perform. “It’s like a concert-slash-dance battle,” Yates says, “and they’ll be giving out free Red Bulls all night.”
The event, Yates adds, is family-friendly. “So you might have a 5-year-old who comes and has never seen [this style of dance] before and sees it and may find interest in the whole culture,” she says. “And it can be life-changing. Dance is an outlet. It gives us direction, a positive direction. It keeps us out of trouble. These days you can make money from it, from social media, posting your content. If your video goes viral or the right person sees it, it can change your life. You can get major opportunities such as doing things with Red Bull and stuff like that.”
In all, Yates hopes audience members of all ages will leave inspired. “This is a big brand that’s pouring into Memphis in a lot of positive ways and opportunities — that’s not really the norm,” she says. “We would love for the city to come out and support and enjoy a good show.”
Tickets cost $5 and can be purchased here.
Red Bull Dance Your Style Memphis, Crosstown Concourse, Saturday, March 25, 6:30-9:30 p.m., $5.
