We caught up with Inyoung 'Dassy' Lee to chat about her first trip to Ireland, he love of dance, and her advice to Irish competitors taking part in this year's Dance Your Style competition.
In August, it was announced that the Red Bull Dance Your Style competition will come to Irish shores for the very first time this year.
Already a hit in the US and beyond, the high-energy battles bring outrageously talented dancers from around the globe to showcase an impressive range of street styles including hip-hop, popping, locking, house and more.
To kick things off, international dancers Dassy Lee and StalaMuerte will be performing a showcase in Pembroke Square at Dundrum Town Centre on Friday, September 22, at 1pm and 4pm.
The National Finals of the iconic one-on-one street-dance competition then take place in the same location at 1pm on Saturday, September 30.
To find out more, we caught up with Inyoung 'Dassy' Lee, who first started dancing at eight years old in South Korea. By 14, she had turned her attention to popping, and by 16, she was determined to go pro.
"I got into dancing from watching hip hop music videos," she explains. "At the time there was no YouTube or anything, I was recording the TV and copying the movies, and then teaching my friends so we could dance together."
Later, inspired by choreographer Lia Kim, she fell in love with freestyling in a street dance form, taking classes in locking, popping, hip-hop, and house.
"To master popping... I'm still learning, it's a very technical style. In the beginning, before popping, I was just taking in all these different styles of dancing, but it was only popping that took so long to get the technique."
"At the time, there weren't many female mentors doing popping very hardcore, " she adds. "I didn't know how to get the technique inside of my body. I just didn't know how to use my muscles, so I got very obsessive, and practiced to get the form and get the technique. I was doing the same movements over and over and then, two years later, I found out how to do it."
"I worked so hard to get this technique down, but once it was inside of me, my body was instrumental."
Living in South Korea, Dassy says she knew she had to move to America if she wanted to pursue a career in street dancing, but had to go through a long process to get her visa, often taking part in dance battles to win money and cover the cost.
"I think I was braver when I was younger," she laughs, reflecting on her career. "I was very greedy when it came to learning from different experiences, learning street dance, learning hip-hop, and learning about the origins.
"I'm so thankful I got to go to America and meet all the OGs who created these dance styles. I learned so much, so I think that's the best life decision that I made."
In 2017, Dassy became the first Korean dancer on So You Think You Can Dance. From there, she began appearing in music videos for Calvin Harris, PARTYNEXTDOOR, Pitbull and One Republic, before going on to win Red Bull Dance Your Style Miami in 2021.
When it comes to global competition, the Seoul native says she has a few words of advice for any Irish competitors:
"Other street dance competitions can be very intense, people can be very serious, but Dance Your Style brings a lot of music that people know from around the world. It's easier to do some stupid move that people go crazy for. All the people know how Michael Jackson danced or how Beyoncé dances, so you can have fun."
"It's really important to connect with the audience," she adds. "Sometimes, as a street dancer, you can be very critical about dance quality or musicality - and, of course, that's very important - but people often forget about connecting with the audience. They need to be able to enjoy the moment and not be too serious about it."
Outside of battles, she has earned 40 million views on YouTube with her trio Femme Fatale, but says that dancing in-person is what it's all about.
"COVID time was very hard for dancers," she says. "I feel like street dancing and dance is all about sharing the moment and sharing the energy together. Social media is a good tool for meeting people around the world, but we shouldn't forget about the essence of dance and connecting with each other."
"I want more female dancers to go for it without doubting themselves too much," she adds. "I want to see more female leaders, and as we encourage each other more, we're going to make the scene safer and it's only going to get bigger."
