Dance
Meet Canada's Red Bull Dance Your Style 2022 finalists
Get to know Canada's top street dancers ahead of the Red Bull Dance Your Style National Final in Toronto.
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Red Bull Dance Your Style is officially underway and Canada’s top street dancers have been bringing the heat. With both Vancouver and Montreal qualifiers complete, the remaining eight dancers will join eight wildcards at the National Final on August 26th in Toronto, Ontario. Here, dancers will compete to become the national winner and represent Canada at the 2022 Red Bull Dance Your Style World Final in Johannesburg, South Africa.
Get up to speed on the premiere global street dance competition here, and continue scrolling to meet Canada’s Red Bull Dance your Style finalists.
01
Humuza Bazira (Vancouver winner)
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At the heart of Humuza’s passion for dance is unbounded creative expression—the ability to communicate freely and earnestly those parts of themselves they can’t put into words. Hailing from Surrey, British Columbia of Kenyan, Ugandan, and Rwandese descent, this up-and-comer in the Canadian street dance scene has been supported by the Vancouver dance community (the Gigabots and The Midnight Society crews in particular) since he started dancing in 2016. Mixing hip hop and popping with unique emotive movement, Humuza’s style embodies authenticity in a way that feels fresh, and looks even fresher.
Humuza Bazira wins Dance Your Style Canada 2022 Vancouver qualifier
© Spencer Watson
02
James Hopson (Montreal winner)
As student of funk since the age of five, this Montreal-based street dancer is set to bring his life-long pursuit to the national stage. Mixing a rhythmic, laidback style of popping with improvised Hip Hop movements, James is one to the music guide personal expression; making him a crowd-pleaser in any battle format.
James Hopson AKA Pop-Son wins DYS Canada 2022 Montreal Qualifier
© Leslie Woods
03
Sophia 'Sosa' Laurio (Vancouver)
As far back as Sophia can remember, dance has been an integral part of their life. Born and raised in Manila, Philippines before coming to reside on the unceded lands of the Coast Salish peoples, her early experiences of movement are founded in the music and celebration practices fundamental to their culture. On the floor, she embodies free expression and dynamic fluidity; the kind of movement that subdues as much as it excites. Impassioned by the deeply nurturing essence of dance her upbringing was saturated with, Sophia co-founded Barangay Project Society: a non-profit dedicated to providing free dance and art education to BIPOC youth.
Sophia 'Sosa' Laurio is a DYS Canada 2022 finalist
© Spencer Watson
04
Kofi Black (Montreal)
Blending hip hop with funk styles and a pinch of Afro Soul, this Ghanian street dancer, born in Toronto and brought up in Mississauga, Ontario, knows how to serve flavour on the floor. Upholding dance as one of their greatest teachers in life since he started practicing at the age of 12, Kofi attributes much of his essence to rhythmic movement: their attunement to emotional intelligence, access to an outlet for emotional expression, connection to a like-minded community, exposure to opportunities for growth, and sense of purpose, to name a few.
Kofi Black blends hip hop with funk styles and a pinch of Afro Soul
© Leslie Woods
05
Tegvaran Sooch (Vancouver)
Blending free-flowing Hip Hop with powerful Krumping movements, Tegvaran exhibits an abstract style that has the ability to captivate and evoke emotion. Born and raised in Surrey, British Columbia, he was introduced to dance in a high school dance class in 2016, and hasn’t looked back since. Supported by his crews, Illest Illusionz and Wreckage Fam, Tegvaran views street dance as an opportunity to foster community, promote inclusion, and build life-long friendships.
Tegvaran Sooch is Vancouver's breakdance standout
© Spencer Watson
06
Arnaldo 'BBOY Effect' Betancourt (Montreal)
For the past 14 years, dance has been at the forefront of all aspects of BBOY Effect’s life. Born in Cuba and raised in Montreal before settling in Ottawa five years ago, this dynamic street dancer has built an expansive, intercity community of crews and kin that empower his movements, including Deadly Venoms Crew in Montreal and Baltimore, Mix’d Mafia Crew in Montreal, as well as his own dance and training companies in Ottawa: Moov Ottawa Dance and North Moovment.
BBOY EFFECT en route to the finals
© Leslie Woods
07
Jayda Bhinder (Vancouver)
A fiercely captivating and animated force on the floor, this Surrey, British Columbia native has orbited her life around dance since the early age of six. Gravitating towards high energy movements like waacking, popping and hip hop, Jayda's freestyle presence is powerful; an invaluable attribute in a competition where wowing the crowd means everything. Supported by her crew, the Gigabots, Jayda’s love of dance fuels their growth in all aspects of life.
Jayda Bhinder competes at DYS Canada 2022 Vancouver Qualifiers
© Spencer Watson
08
Nathaniel Scarlette (Montreal)
Since entering the realm of street dance at the age of 8, Nathaniel Scarlette has honed his craft in countless battles and even a Netflix feature film, titled Work It. Hailing from Brampton, Ontario, he is best known for blending Hip Hop and Popping styles to produce an effortless yet energetic showcases alongside The Eternal Kings crew and Funky By Nature.
Nathaniel Scarlette dances to the national finals
© Leslie Woods
09
Wildcards
AJ
AJ was born in Toronto, with a Ghanaian background, but is now based in Vancouver. They've been dancing for almost 10 years and train with Vancouver's “BROTHERHOOD” crew. Lately, freestyle has been AJ’s main focus because, for him, it comes from creativity. Playing into a character and having a cut throat mindset are AJ’s favorite things about dance.
AJ - Dance Your Style
© AJ
Walid Hammani
Walid (29) has been dancing for 14 years and first started with electro dance. He currently represents Funky By Nature and represented the country twice in France, before learning Breaking, Popping and Locking. He spent time traveling the world to enhance his dance knowledge, and won numerous competitions along the way. Currently, Walid is focusing on Popping but loves to mix in all different types of dance to make it his own. Born and raised in Montreal, with roots in Morocco, Walid is now introducing more inspiration from his heritage. He plans to continue to travel, representing his city, and bring Popping to Morocco.
Walid Hammani
© Walid Hammani
Monica Fernandes
Monica “Knivesz” Fernandes is a krump dancer from Toronto and has been in the scene for 11 years. In 2020, Knives founded ScrewfaceCapital.krump Toronto - an all-inclusive community for Toronto krumpers and street dancers. She also created a program centred around introducing young womxn to krump and sneakers called SOLEiloquy (soliloquy). Her goal is to influence and encourage more women into krump and evolve to their true selves in dance.
Monica Fernandes
© Monica Fernandes
Luis "Cheech" Miguel
Luis "Cheech" Miguel is a seasoned Popper/Tutter/Choreographer and Street Performer. Hailing from Puebla Mexico, but residing in Toronto Ontario, He has been an active member of the street dance community for almost a decade. Representing the UW Poppers, Third Kind crew, and Soul Junkiez crew, Cheech mixes traditional flavour with crazy concepts and high performance energy. Don't sleep or you'll get slept.
Luis Miguel
© Luis Miguel
AJ MegaMan
AJ MegaMan is a world renowned battler, public speaker, and teacher as well as a founder of the Reality Check Online Program. As a member of Heavy Hittaz, Soulbotics Krew & Creator of Funkanometry and Minibots crew, Aj “MegaMan” Kambere has made a name as a professional dancer and entertainer. With his talent in Hip Hop, Popping/Animation, Memphis Jookin, Stepping/Gumboot Dancing & Bopping, AJ MegaMan has taught on every continent, sharing his knowledge with other dancers. He has worked with the likes of Popping John, Dytto, Wildabeast, Phillip Chebeeb, Madd Chadd, Boppin Andre, and Luther Brown on many different dance-related projects, including: NBC’s World of Dance season 3, Hip Hop Battlegrounds, Keep on Dancing (KOD) Artist Emerge, Represent Edmonton, and Body talk Miami, among others. AJ learned from top teachers like Megan Jones, Boppin Andre, Jwon, and Liz Vaessen who have all been credited with helping MegaMan reach their current level of success.
AJ Megaman
© Kule Kambere
Kalliane ‘YOFI’ Brémault
Born in Winnipeg, Manitoba, to a family of musicians, Kalliane is a professional dance artist. From the age 5, she dove into Hip Hop music, training in Hip Hop, breaking, popping and house. This sparked a long-lasting journey of studying Hip Hop culture, battling, performing, choreographing and teaching. In 2017, she moved to Toronto to pursue her career. Kalliane has worked for top Canadian street dance companies and has extended her reach through training, battling, teaching and performing internationally. Notably, Kalliane has been cast as a lead supporting role actor and dancer in movies and TV shows produced by Netflix and Disney, as well as in national commercials. As Kalliane strives to gather knowledge, she also endeavors to contribute to the cultures that have graciously welcomed her, as thanks for the nurturing of teachers and mentors who inspired her. She uses art to express herself, embrace mistakes and explore dualities such as masculine/feminine fluidity, dark/light and strong/vulnerable, for the purpose of actualizing balance and connection.
Yofi Dance Your Style
© Yofi-dance-your-style
Daniel Keith Morrison
A member of The Moon Runners a crew, revered as one of the best of all time in Canada, Daniel Keith Morrison aka Keith Dah God is a street dancer who spends most of his time teaching and battling in Toronto's dance scene. Daniel chose perform under the name Keith Dah God in reference to the Triune God, being made in Gods Image, and being one of Three Keiths in his family. He has been dancing since 2002, and started breaking in 2008. Over the years he has danced with Missy Elliot's choreographers in Film, Represented Team Canada Twice in China and L.A., Toured the UAE, performed at the Sony Center, among other accomplishments. He was also 2019s Dance Your Style Finalist, leaving him with the determination to go for the win again.
Keith Dah God Dance Your Style
© Daniel Keith Morrison
Pierre-Michel "Afternoon" Jean-Louis
Dancing since 2003, Pierre-Michel "Afternoon" Jean-Louis has learned from some of the pioneers of street dance. He’s performed and taught workshops all over the world, won close to 100 street dance competitions and judged numerous dance events all over the world. His spot in Hip Hop culture isn't limited to dance, either, as he also takes on the roles of Emcee, DJ, Beatmaker, Educator, and cultural mediator. He’s worked on various national, international projects such as festivals, cultural missions and stage productions. He's currently working on opening Canada's first Hip Hop Cultural Center in Montreal.
Afternoon Dance Your Style
© Pierre-Michel Jean-Louis
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