Red Bull Dance Your Style is back!
Ireland’s top street dancers will bring the heat to Dublin this Saturday 18th July, for the Red Bull Dance Your Style National Final, taking over The National Stadium Dublin.
From 8-10pm, Sixteen of the country’s top dancers will go head-to-head for a shot at representing Ireland on the global stage at the world finals in Zurich this Autumn.
The high-stakes, high-energy format returns unchanged: one-on-one dance battles, no pre-selected music, and no judges. Just the DJ, the dancers, and the crowd - who decide the winner of each battle with the power of their vote.
From hip-hop to house, locking to popping, it’s all about showing up, standing out, and owning the floor.
Ahead of the competition, SPIN sat down for a chat with this year's host, Lapree Ncube!
Meet Lapree Ncube
Lapree Ncube is a respected figure within Ireland’s dance community, known for her work as a dancer, choreographer and cultural advocate. Beyond competing as a finalist in the first-ever Red Bull Dance Your Style Ireland National Final in 2023 and later stepping into a hosting role, she is also the founder of SouthSide Moves, a platform dedicated to growing and celebrating African dance culture in Ireland through classes, workshops, camps and community-building initiatives.
A passionate champion for Afro dance, Lapree has played an important role in creating opportunities for dancers, fostering cultural exchange and helping to grow the scene across Ireland. Having progressed from National Final competitor to co-host alongside Matthew Williamson, she continues to inspire the next generation of dancers while bringing authenticity, energy and deep community connections to the Red Bull Dance Your Style stage.
Q. You're returning to Red Bull Dance Your Style as previous finalist in the first ever Red Bull Dance Your Style back in 2023. Tell me a little bit about that journey, and I what Red Bull Dance Your Style means to you as someone that's so vibrant in the scene?
"Oh my God, that's a great first question actually."
"When we first started Red Bull Dance Your Style, I think it was very much unfamiliar to everybody on the scene."
"I remember having conversations with one of my peers and most of them were like, we taking this seriously in a way that they were training like weekly and, you know, meeting up to session and doing all of these things to prepare for Red Bull."
"And then for me, being a dance teacher and having a dance business and all that stuff, it's so hard to be a dancer, choreographer, and somebody that is able to like train and session by themselves."
"But I remember the day of Red Bull, telling myself I just go in there, have some fun, listen to music and see what you do and connect with the crowd."
Q. How does it compare, returning as a host rather than a competitor?
"I actually prefer the host more than anything, if I'm being honest."
"I've actually hosted a lot of events, and I think Red Bull Dance Your Style was one of those things I was like 'Yeah, one day I actually want to do that'."
"I feel like the dancers need a host that's on their side, you know? Because most of the time when you're going through these environments, it's a high-stress environment for most of them."
"As much as we want to say it's all about the freedom of expression, you need to show your personality, musicality and connection to audience— technically all of this is quite a lot and it is highly stressful. But to know that there's somebody on your side that has the mic, that you know, that's waving the wand for the audience to show you support as well is nice."
"I think as somebody that's been in the dance industry for quite some time, moving into the role of a host has been really exciting because as a dancer myself, I know what I need in that space."
View this post on Instagram
Q. Is there anything in particular you're looking out for at this year's finals? And what do you want the dancers to keep in their mind as they go out and perform?
"That's a good question, but it's really tough at the same time because every dance is very unique."
"I think of it like having a fingerprint, you know? What you bring is unique to the next person."
"The biggest thing is the enjoyment aspect for sure. One thing that struck me with the qualifiers is that they're really great within their style. They have an amazing connection with the audience, and their musicality is absolutely out of this world."
"But I would love to see more personality, especially with those dancers that are very stuck and heavy in their style."
"You can definitely venture out more in how you showcase your dance in the music because Red Bull utilises lots of pop music. So it is quite different if somebody's a hip-hop dancer or likes more hardcore— having a hardcore style and being able to show a softer personality would be amazing."
"Stage presence is definitely something I'm going to be looking for, like somebody that says 'This is my time! I'm here to show you what I can do"
Q. A unique aspect of Red Bull Dance Your Style is that the audience pick their winner. What do you think dancers should consider with this in mind?
"Most of the time, the audiences actually have no dance backgrounds or just are non-dancers. So most of them are looking at this from a point of view of enjoying and thinking 'Oh this person is really fun!"
"It's not so much about the technicality of it, it's more so how they translate the music to how they are feeling within their style at that point in time."
"When we look at the winners over the last couple of years, it would have been somebody that embodies all of that you know? The performance element, the technical part of it, how they listen to the music and the musicality, of course."
"I think the biggest thing is the connection to the audience because Red Bull Dance Your Style is one of the most unique dance competitions because of audience— they decide who the winner."
EVENT DETAILS
The Red Bull Dance Your Style National Final will land at the National Stadium on Saturday, July 18th 2026.
Tickets for Ireland’s biggest one-on-one street dance competition are on sale now for €10, excluding booking fee.
Doors open at 6:30 PM, with the action kicking off at 8.00 PM until 10:30 PM.
Get your tickets here
