Amanda Va is redefining dance at Red Bull Dance Your Style

Posted on 2 June, 2026

From viral dance battles to representing Canberra on a national stage, Amanda Va is proving the capital’s street dance scene deserves a spotlight.

Canberra might not be the first city people think of when it comes to street dance freestyle battle culture, but that’s exactly why dancers like Canberra-born Amanda Va are determined to change those perceptions. This July, Amanda will head to Sydney’s Hordern Pavilion to compete in the 2026 National Final of Red Bull Dance Your Style, one of the world’s biggest freestyle street dance competitions.

Unlike traditional dance competitions, Red Bull Dance Your Style puts the power entirely in the audience’s hands. Dancers face off in improvised one verse one battles to surprise tracks spanning everything from hip hop to disco. There are no judges and no choreography, and only the crowd gets to decide who advances.

The competition – which launched in 2018 –has grown into a global phenomenon, expanding from 14 participating countries in its first year to more than 48 countries and 160 events worldwide. The winner of the Australian National Final will go on to represent the country at the Red Bull Dance Your Style World Final in Zurich later this year.

For Amanda, the road to the national stage started much closer to home.

“I was with my dance studio, Project Beats, and then from there I joined my crew, Project One,” she explains.

“We were doing competitions like Hip Hop International and Battlegrounds, and from there I started learning actual foundations and understanding the proper history behind all the movements that I was doing.”

As her love for freestyle culture grew, Amanda began travelling interstate almost every weekend to compete, train and immerse herself further in battle culture, all while also bringing what she learned back to Canberra.

“My studio was really heavily involved in street culture,” she says.

“We’d hold mini battles at the studio so we could understand what it was like. Then we went to our first really big battle in Sydney and realised how huge it could be. Most of us just fell in love with it.”

Amanda says Canberra’s smaller dance scene has created a unique sense of hunger and community among local dancers.

“I love saying that I’m from Canberra, because I feel like people don’t really think about Canberra as a creative scene,”

“There are so many creatives in Canberra wanting to pursue their careers. Being from a small city doesn’t have to stop you or hold you back.”

That drive has already taken Amanda far beyond Canberra. Last year, one of her freestyle battle performances – which saw her dancing to a 50 Cent song ‘Just a Lil Bit’ –exploded online, racking up more than 21 million Instagram views and introducing her dancing to a global audience.

 

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“It was very surreal,” she says. “I left the event thinking, ‘Sick, that was a great night. Anyway, moving on’. Then suddenly, my phone was flooding with notifications.”

While the viral moment opened doors, Amanda says she’s worked hard not to let it define her or the way she moves.

“I still want to approach dance the same way, focus on the connection, the music and being present,”

“There can be expectations once you achieve a certain level, people expect more and greater, but I think it’s a matter of going back to why you’re doing what you’re doing.”

For Amanda, that “why” is simple.

“I just love dance. It doesn’t need to be anything deeper than that.”

Having already competed in Red Bull Dance Your Style twice before, Amanda says experience has helped her shift her focus away from results and towards connection.

“I just want to go there and have fun,” she explains.

“I don’t really care about the result. I just want to show myself. I want to have that audience connection, and I think having fun is the key thing to feel that connection with everyone.”

That authenticity, she believes, is exactly what audiences respond to in freestyle battle culture.

“I think audiences genuinely respond to people who are honestly themselves and have fun,” she says.

“I can’t do a back flip – unfortunately – or crazy tricks. The only thing that I can do is just have fun, feel that connection, and surprisingly, people will respond really well as long as you’re authentically yourself.”

The crowd plays a central role in Red Bull Dance Your Style, with audiences voting dancers through each round based purely on reaction and energy in the room. Amanda says that atmosphere creates something special for both performers and spectators.

“If you give the dancer a lot of energy, they’ll give you back a lot of energy. Everyone deserves that spotlight and that love.”

Amanda will also be joined in the national final by fellow Canberra dancer 4MAN, something she believes speaks volumes about the ACT dance community.

“The Canberra scene is really strong and passionate,” she says.

“The hunger to grow is so much stronger when you’re from a smaller city because you want it so badly, and your community wants it for you too.”

And for anyone attending the event for the first time, Amanda says there’s only one thing audiences need to do: show up and enjoy the ride.

“I hope people walk away inspired by street dance,”

“A lot of people think they can’t dance, but everyone can dance. If you can walk, you can two-step, you can dance.”

Images supplied.