One year after falling short in the Red Bull Dance Your Style national final, Alvan-Michael Okere flipped the script. Now Botswana’s newest street dance champion is heading to Switzerland, carrying a dream powered by grit, groove and unstoppable rhythm
GOSEGO MOTSUMI
Sometimes the biggest comeback doesn’t need words, it just needs the right beat.
One year after watching the title slip through his fingers, 21-year-old Alvan-Michael Okere turned heartbreak into triumph, claiming the Red Bull Dance Your Style Botswana National Final crown at Molapo Crossing Piazza this past weekend. His victory books him a ticket to the Red Bull Dance Your Style World Final in Zurich, Switzerland, on October 24, where he will fly Botswana’s flag on one of street dance’s biggest stages.
A COMEBACK WRITTEN IN RHYTHM
Last year’s finalist returned sharper, stronger and impossible to ignore. Battling through 15 of Botswana’s best freestyle dancers, Okere survived unpredictable music choices and high-pressure one-on-one clashes before winning over the only judges that mattered, the crowd.
Unlike conventional competitions, every battle was decided by audience votes, rewarding creativity, musicality and the ability to own any track, from hip hop and amapiano to house, Afrobeats and chart-topping anthems.
THE STUDENT WITH GLOBAL DREAMS
Away from the dance floor, Okere is a full-time student at Gaborone University College (GUC). Dance, however, has always been his first love.
“It’s an honour to win. It shows that my hard work has paid off,” he told Time Out.
“I have been intensively preparing for this competition for a year and I hope this exposure brings a career in dance for me because I am a real creative, especially when it comes to dance. I love the art.”
Inspired by films like Stomp the Yard and Step Up, Okere says his signature style blends hip hop with locking, popping and breaking.
NEXT STOP: ZURICH
The celebration may be over, but the work has already begun.
“In Switzerland I am going to perfect my musicality, stamina and power boost,” Okere said.
Botswana has found its newest freestyle ambassador and if his comeback story is anything to go by, Zurich might just be the beginning.