Vy “Eevy” Nguyen has been dancing for as long as she can remember. But up until she attended Decatur High School, it was something she did for personal enjoyment — the movement and rhythm resonated with her.

Growing up and still to this day, she’s never had the classic dance training or worked in a studio.

“I was never classically trained … It was so expensive. It was never something my family could afford. So I just watched YouTube videos all the time. Dance was something I always loved doing and watching,” she said.

She joined the Decatur Hip Hop Club where she learned about battle dancing: “I was able to meet someone from the Seattle dance community,” she said

Nguyen transitioned to the battle scene of dancing, which in her words “is much different from choreographed dance because it is all freestyle.”

To learn and add new moves to her repertoire, Nguyen goes to the “lab.” Labbing is a phrase dancers use to “cook up new material.” It’s a collaborative process, and with it comes a variety of moves that can be added for a dancer’s routine in a battle. Nguyen found her signature move in a labbing session — which, for someone who is moderately flexible, I can say is one of the more incredible things I have ever seen.

“I hold my leg up with one of my arms and I make a box out of it. Then transition to another move,” she said.

As a 17-year-old, Nguyen put in a ton of time and effort into perfecting her craft.

“I would meet up with a bunch of people and practice. After school, after work I was going to practice. Even when I got home after meeting up with my friends, I would continue to practice,” she said. “Knowing that I put in the work and am reaping the rewards of it feels really good.”

Nguyen adopted the technique of whacking, which is a dance style that is somewhat new in the grand scheme of dance history. Learning about the origins of her dance style is really important to respecting who came before her.

“It was made in LA in the 1970s by the gay, Black and Latinx community. The dance is all about freedom of expression. It’s very dramatic at times,” she said.

“With these dance styles there is no textbook. There is no written thing to refer to,” she said.

She learned it by talking to people.

“You talk to people who learned from the originators and even the originators themselves. Since a lot of battle dances are relatively new, you can find the people who started these styles,” Nguyen said.

The dance scene that Nguyen participates in can present an average person in an extremely awkward situation. Leading up to her battle is when Nguyen is the most nervous. She is faced with a lot of anticipation and unknown variables like who she is facing and what song gets played.

“I get the most nervous when I am waiting for my name to be called … But when I get up there I feel like I do black out. There are moments where I consciously make choices in my round,” she said.

“For the most part, I hear the music and I black out,” Nguyen said. “It’s me against myself, it’s me against my heart.”

When Nguyen is competing, all eyes are on her, and she rises to the occasion thanks to the support of everyone around her.

“I feel like the support stands out more than the self-consciousness,” she said.

Nguyen has traveled all over the U.S. to compete in dance battles, but a connection made at one event changed her trajectory. After a battle in which she did really well, a Red Bull rep approached her and offered a spot at a “Dance Your Style” tournament in Atlanta.

This led her down the road of national competitions, including getting flown out to compete and having her hotel paid for. Even the stage felt unreal to be on: “The stage felt like something out of a movie,” she said.

A unique difference specifically to the Red Bull event was it was judged via crowd instead of a panel.

“I feel like I’m performing more to the audience than a battle against my opponent,” she said.

Among other places Nguyen has traveled and danced include Atlanta and New York City. She is someone who values history and understanding the origins of dance. New York was just the place for her.

“It had a very distinct type of energy. A lot of original street and club dance forms were made in New York. Experiencing where these dance forms came from at its birthplace was so different. The energy was so real,” she said.

Nguyen hopes to dance as long as she can.

“I just want to keep dance in my life. I want to explore dance in all the ways I could explore it,” she said. Her next local competition will be in Olympia on July 8 at the Olympia Ballroom.