Dance
THE D SoraKi is the Red Bull Dance Your Style World Final champion of 2022
On December 10, 2022, Japanese hip-hop dancer, THE D SoraKi, outclassed his competition in the second Red Bull Dance Your Style World Final in Johannesburg.
After a year of national Red Bull Dance Your Style editions across the globe and two pre-finals, the world witnessed a moment of radiant energy at the Montecasino in Johannesburg, South Africa. The night found its conclusion in a showdown between THE D SoraKi, from Japan, and King DaVinci, from Nigeria. In an electric exchange of skill, both displayed immense freestyle capabilities, impeccable musicality and the ability to let loose and enjoy the music at the moment. After a tie-break, THE D SoraKi was crowned the second Red Bull Dance Your Style World Champion.
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Meet the champ: THE D SoraKi
It's quite unreal. This hasn't sunk in yet and maybe tomorrow it will all sink in
THE D SoraKi impresses dancers and non-dancers alike with his original dance style, lava-like flow and unique approach to music. His biggest passion outside of dance is music. In the future, he hopes that dancers will become the main stars and headline live performances at festivals. With his win at the Red Bull Dance Your Style World Final, he might have a part in this potential future development.
THE D SoraKi’s greatest influences and mentors are DJ XXX Large and Yoshie, who was also a wildcard at the Red Bull Dance Your Style World Final.
On his quest to become the new Red Bull Dance Your Style champion THE D SoraKi has beaten The Crown, Hector Frisken, Humuzza and finally King DaVinci.
THE D SoraKi takes the win
© Mpumelelo Macu / Red Bull Content Pool
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King DaVinci's mission
Finalist King DaVinci was also on a mission to present African dances on the world stage. And he delivered. We met him after the battle where he said:
I wanted to put Africa on the map. I wanted to put Nigeria on the map. I wanted to show that you can't just do one thing but you can do everything. I wanted to open the way for Africans to see that its possible
If you want to dig deeper into the rich cultural story of Afro Dance, check out the documentary (Un)credited - The Story of Afro Dance on Red Bull TV.
King DaVinci in the battle against Inxi
© Tyrone Bradley / Red Bull Content Pool
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The road to the trophy
The national Red Bull Dance Your Style champions of 2021 and 2022 went through two pre-finals in the week leading up to the world final. The eight who advanced from the pre-finals into the main event were up against eight wildcards from around the world, with the Red Bull Dance Your Style World Final top 16 possessing a range of dance styles that highlighted the versatility of the street dance culture.
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About Red Bull Dance Your Style in South Africa
Red Bull Dance Your Style World Final
© Craig Kolesky / Red Bull Content Pool
The eclectic South African crowd came out in numbers to experience this spectacular showcase of street dance and rigorously voted for their favourite dancers throughout the one-on-one battles. This voting process became harder in each round as dancers held nothing back. After four hours of intense competition, the final battle between THE D SoraKi and King DaVinci had the crowd chanting THE D SoraKi to victory.
As the second country to host the Red Bull Dance Your Style World Final, ‘Mzansi’ pulled out all the stops. This spectacular dance showcase was hosted by South African media personality and choreographer Bontle Modiselle alongside French house dancer Kapela. At the same time, Courtnaé Paul ensured that the stage had the most challenging variety of the best global music hits.
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