The Australian professor who turned breaking on its head
The First Art Newspaper on the Net    Established in 1996 Tuesday, November 5, 2024


The Australian professor who turned breaking on its head
Rachael Gunn, known as Raygun, performs in the b-girls breaking competition round robin group during the Paris Summer Olympics, at Place de la Concorde in Paris, France, on Friday, August 9th, 2024. (Chang W. Lee/The New York Times)

by Dodai Stewart and Talya Minsberg



PARIS.- Breaking made its debut as an Olympic sport Friday, and among the competitors was Rachael Gunn, also known as B-girl Raygun, a 36-year-old professor from Sydney, who stood out in just about every way.

By day, her research interests include “dance, gender politics, and the dynamics between theoretical and practical methodologies.” But on the world’s stage in Paris, wearing green track pants and a green polo shirt instead of the street-style outfits of her much younger fellow breakers, she competed against 21-year-old Logan Edra of the United States, known as Logistx.

During the round robin, as Raygun and Logistx faced off, Raygun lay on her side, reached for her toes, spun around and threw in a kangaroo hop — a nod to her homeland. She performed a move that looked something like swimming and another that could best be described as duckwalking. The high-speed back and head spins that other breakers would demonstrate were mostly absent.

The crowd cheered Raygun politely. The judges weren’t as kind. All nine voted for Logistx in both rounds of the competition; Logistx won, 18-0.

Online, Raygun’s performance quickly became a sensation, not necessarily in a flattering way.

“The more I watch the videos of Raygun, the Aussie breaker, the more I get annoyed,” one viewer posted on the social platform X. “There’s 27.7 million Australians in the world and that’s who they send to the Olympics for this inaugural event??? C’mon now!”

Another wrote, “I am so embarrassed for our nation.”

The world’s participation in the Games means that every Olympics produces competitors who are earnest but overmatched, such as British ski jumper Michael Edwards, known as Eddie the Eagle, in 1988 or Ethiopian swimmer Robel Kiros Habte in 2016.

Gunn, who has a doctorate in cultural studies from Macquarie University and has a background as a ballroom, jazz and tap dancer, takes the anthropological aspect of breaking seriously.

“The visibility and legitimacy that come with being an Olympic sport will expand professional opportunities for breakers. This is particularly significant for an activity as diverse as breaking,” she wrote last month in The Economist. “Breaking provides an opportunity to explore the ‘faster, higher, stronger’ ethos of the Olympics in new ways. It shows us that we truly don’t know every point on which the body can spin or launch its weight, the different shapes it can make, or all the ways it can move.”

The Paris Games added breaking as part of an effort to appeal to a younger audience. The art form was born on the streets, with its roots in New York City’s hip-hop community. Some of breaking’s pioneers are dubious about its inclusion in an organized competition.

“I don’t think it’s an accurate representation of what breaking is,” Odylle Beder, a B-girl from Brooklyn who is known as Mantis, said in 2023. “Breaking is a lot more organic, and the way that we do it in the Olympics is, like, ‘Do a round. Stop, look at what your score is. Now do another round.’”

But for some people, there was entertainment value in watching Raygun perform.

“There has not been an Olympic performance this dominant since Usain Bolt’s 100m sprint at Beijing in 2008,” one viewer wrote on X. “Honestly, the moment Raygun broke out her Kangaroo move this competition was over! Give her the #breakdancing gold (gold medal emoji)”

Logistx is among those who feel strongly that breaking is not taken seriously enough. Although the sport was welcomed at the Paris Games, it will not be part of the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles.

“As dancers, we’ve always been the bottom of the totem pole,” she said in an interview last week. “We’ve never really been recognized as athletes.”

She had faith that the Games would shine a light on breaking and seal its legitimacy as a sport. “To be here, and to have access to these resources, and to stand next to a lot of legends in sports,” she said, “this is like all of the most high level athletes.”

This article originally appeared in The New York Times.










Today's News

August 11, 2024

'Hockney and Piero: A Longer Look' on view at The National Gallery

National Gallery UK touring exhibitions set to reach 1 million visitors

Nathalie Joachim, Saloni Mathur, and Joseph M. Pierce join MoMA for a one-year residency

MoMa to open Nour Mobarak's first museum exhibition in New York City

Pace announces an exhibition of new, never-before-exhibited paintings by Maysha Mohamedi

The Gerald Peters Gallery presents a thought provoking and timely exhibition of new work by Penelope Gottlieb

For a 'citizen artist,' creativity is a matter of survival

Hallyu! The Korean Wave makes a pop culture splash at Asian Art Museum this fall

Can this woman save the United States?

The Museum Ludwig team mourns the loss of Kasper König

Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center presents "Sightlines: Chinatown and Beyond"

Hammer Museum to present 'Breath(e): Toward Climate and Social Justice'

Derek Eller Gallery announces the passing of Thomas Barrow

Breaking's key player is a DJ from New York City

The Paris bridge of Olympic joy and its violent past

Iowa law requiring schools to remove books with sexual content to take effect

Mísia, who brought a modern flair to fado music, dies at 69

The Australian professor who turned breaking on its head

Confident, like her character: Myha'la arrives

Howie Cohen, whose Alka-Seltzer ads spawned catchphrases, dies at 81

36 hours in Salzburg, Austria

Where To Buy Instagram Followers & Likes?

The Dos and Don'ts of Mailing Business Checks

Dirndl for Every Body: Finding the Perfect Fit and Style




Museums, Exhibits, Artists, Milestones, Digital Art, Architecture, Photography,
Photographers, Special Photos, Special Reports, Featured Stories, Auctions, Art Fairs,
Anecdotes, Art Quiz, Education, Mythology, 3D Images, Last Week, .

 



Founder:
Ignacio Villarreal
(1941 - 2019)
Editor & Publisher: Jose Villarreal
Art Director: Juan José Sepúlveda Ramírez
Writer: Ofelia Zurbia Betancourt

Attorneys
Truck Accident Attorneys
Accident Attorneys
Holistic Dentist
Abogado de accidentes
สล็อต
สล็อตเว็บตรง

Royalville Communications, Inc
produces:

ignaciovillarreal.org juncodelavega.com facundocabral-elfinal.org
Founder's Site. Hommage
to a Mexican poet.
Hommage
       

The First Art Newspaper on the Net. The Best Versions Of Ave Maria Song Junco de la Vega Site Ignacio Villarreal Site Parroquia Natividad del Señor
Tell a Friend
Dear User, please complete the form below in order to recommend the Artdaily newsletter to someone you know.
Please complete all fields marked *.
Sending Mail
Sending Successful