From South African Media to International Stages: Justone Du Plessis and a Career Defined by Performance
A career shaped by execution, endurance, and global reach
Justone Du Plessis is a South African dancer, choreographer, and performance artist whose career spans international media, live theater, and large-scale touring productions. His work moves fluidly between contemporary and commercial forms, combining physical precision with a clear command of stage presence.
Du Plessis first gained national recognition in South Africa through competitive freestyle disco, a high-intensity European dance form emphasizing speed, elevation, and technical control. In 2017, he achieved a historic milestone by winning the South African National Championships and earning a spot on the podium in the Champion of Champions section, becoming the first South African male dancer to claim the distinction being two levels below Champ. The achievement established him as a leading figure within the discipline.
His visibility expanded through commercial and broadcast work. He appeared as the featured male dancer in the music video “Ek Like Hoe Jy Dans” by Ché featuring Snotkop, a production that surpassed three million views on YouTube and reached wide international audiences. He later served as lead dancer and choreographer for “Zozela Zalala,” a visually driven production combining jazz, acrobatic movement, and contemporary physical language. His commercial work includes a starring role in the Flying Machine Jeans campaign, directed by Shamiel Soni, where movement was central to the brand’s identity.
Du Plessis has also performed on televised stages, including the South African Cricket Awards streamed on SuperSport, where he appeared as a featured dancer in a narrative role. His stage work includes performances alongside major recording artists and participation in large-scale productions presented at prominent national venues.
For the past three years, Du Plessis has worked internationally with Carnival Cruise Line as a lead dancer across multiple productions. He is currently featured as the lead male dancer in Rio Carnival, the center-stage production aboard the Carnival Jubilee, choreographed by Ashlé Dawson. The production is presented multiple times per cruise, requiring sustained athletic and technical execution across an extended performance schedule.
His work aboard Carnival has taken him through Mexico, Honduras, Texas, and Miami, performing for international audiences in a touring format that demands consistency, endurance, and adaptability. Rehearsals for current and upcoming productions are conducted in Miami, where performers prepare for extended performance cycles at sea.
In addition to performance, Du Plessis has maintained an active presence as a choreographer and creative contributor across stage and video projects. His movement vocabulary spans contemporary, jazz, lyrical, commercial, ballroom, musical theater, and freestyle disco, allowing him to adapt across formats without compromising technical clarity.
Across live performance, commercial media, and international touring, Du Plessis’s career reflects sustained professional engagement rather than episodic work. His trajectory demonstrates continuity, recognition, and leadership within the field of dance.
Rather than positioning movement as spectacle, his work emphasizes structure, discipline, and execution — qualities that define not only his performances, but the scope of his career across borders and platforms.
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