14 Jul 2026

Alvan-Michael Okere, has  earned a right to represent Botswana at the global Red Bull Dance Your Style championship  scheduled for October  24 in Zurich, Switzerland. 

A freestyle dancer, Okere’s winning strategy relied on rigorous disciplined training for a year following the 2025 Red Bull competition in which he finished second behind Lebo Mabifhi. 

“I had to train for hours per day practising each move and transition aiming for the win,” Okere said.  His preparations showed in his dance set, as he adapted to musical curveball the Dj dropped, having fun and celebrating the joy of all music genres thrown, rather than getting caught in the stress of intense dance battle. 

“I capitalised on the audience energy to fuel me up, and because of them I did not feel exhausted from the intense fast dance set,” Okere explained. 

Born in Nigeria and raised in Botswana, Okere draws his dance inspiration from French twins, Les Twins whom he credits for shaping his moves from a young age. Strong on new style hip-hop, Okere however displayed a vast vocabulary of movement according to the Dj’s random unpredictable songs. 

His ability to instantly switch from one dance style to the other based on the musical beat won him the audience approval, which is what the Red Bull Dance Your Style winner is decided on; and not the judges. 

Often, dance looks deceptively simple to the eye, but it takes a lot of coordination, balance and rhythm. And, all this makes it physically and mentally challenging, which requires serious strength to perform movements seamlessly. 

“My biggest challenge to get to the final and eventually winning the competition was getting over social anxiety which I always get when dancing in front of people,” Okere said adding that in the last winning round, he wondered how he would dance the track for that final round; ‘but then I just proceeded to move my body.’

Advising other aspiring dancers especially those thinking of trying their luck in the competition, Okeke, a public health major student at Gaborone University College, said they should never doubt their talents and believe in themselves. 

He also said they should never overthink, as that had the potential to destroy creativity. “Just go in there and do what feels right for you.” 

First held in 2018, Red Bull Dance Your Style is a global dance competition that brings together some of the world’s best street dancers to compete against each other in a freestyle battle format. 

Dancers competing for the national title will participate in regional qualifiers battles in order to secure a spot in the national final. 

All registered dancers compete for a top 16 spot, where they will then compete head-to-head in a one versus one battle format, battling over two rounds. 

After each battle, the audience will decide who rules the dance floor and advances to the next round.

Red Bull Dance Your Style  does not offer a cash prize; the ultimate reward for the winning dancer is global visibility, career acceleration, and the prestigious championship title. ENDS