2025 Red Bull Dance Your Style Winner Jaïra Joy on Hip Hop and Girl Power
At Red Bull Dance Your Style, the crowd decides everything. This year it had one thing to say: Jaïra Joy. At the 2025 World Final, 18-year-old Jaïra Joy became the second woman in history to take home the title of Dance Your Style Champion. Even better, her win followed an all-female tie-breaker round between Joy and 2023 champion Waackxxxy.
Held in Los Angeles, California, on October 11, the competition housed over 10 thousand audience members cheering on the 16 competitors (eight pre-final winners and eight invited wildcards). Like many of her fellow dancers, the Netherlands-born Joy traveled across the world to compete.
Dance Spirit caught up with the 2025 champion to learn more about her story and her experience winning Dance Your Style.
Could you describe your dance trajectory?
I started dancing when I was 8 years old. At the time, I was taking tennis classes through a sports club when I saw a poster that there were dance classes taught by Jennifer Romen. After taking a few weeks of classes, she asked me to join her dance group for competitions. Eventually, she would start the We Are Oxygen company and academy, which is where I grew up and learned many different dance styles. Currently, I am training in the Oxygen Academy full-time study program.
Outside the Netherlands, where have you felt most at home in the dance world?
The Netherlands has a completely different vibe than in the U.S. I think Los Angeles was really nice because the community is very open and free to share their thoughts. In L.A., people were coming right up to me asking about the Red Bull Dance Your Style competition process, my dancing, or even my outfits.
Hip hop has so many styles, from locking and popping to breaking and krumping. Which one feels the most “you”?
In the Red Bull competition, I showed a lot of different hip hop influences but definitely featured locking the most. I do think locking is my main style, and I really like to use it on different types of music like Afro, house, or hip hop.
What preparation went into attending Dance Your Style?
The past few months were really intense for me. I spent most of the time training with Oxygen, and when we have a goal, we really go for it. My coach Jennifer and I did a recap of all prior years of the Red Bull competition, just watching everything and really thinking, How we are gonna tackle this?
What is your favorite part of attending street dance battles?
My favorite part of attending competitions is the opportunity to share your own style and hard work with everyone—letting everyone know who I am, and then receiving all the kind messages afterward. I think that’s something really beautiful that comes from dancing.
How did it feel to win?
Winning was really amazing, especially after the round with Waackxxxy. We had to do another round because it was a tie. That was a lot, because you feel like you’re done, and then you have to do it all over again. I was a little nervous because Waackxxxy had already won [in 2023], she knows exactly what to do, and she’s an incredible dancer. Her technique and waacking is insane. I knew it was going to be a hard battle, but I loved that it was a girl-power one. Winning after that just feels unreal.
And lastly, what is your go-to hype song or musical artist for competitions?
Definitely Michael Jackson! When I was young, he was my biggest inspiration. His music is what got me into dancing. Honestly, I was really hoping for a Michael Jackson song during the Red Bull competition.
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