Stop the World I want to get off.
I am sure that there are many who feel this way when they look at social media and look at some of the trolling that takes place. Not only that, but the incredible amount of misinformation that is shared, and how many people believe that information.
As one person explained it, it is the world our leaders want to distract us from their ineptitude and wrong doings. It is a point where stability becomes instability, and order is disrupted. The norms that we expect are broken, and that takes our attention away from the real issues.
When Breakdancing was announced as being included in the Paris Olympic Games there were many raised eyebrows. What was a dance form doing in the Olympics an event that is defined as being one for Sport. Yet we should not forget that ballet dancer Rudolf Nureyev graced the cover of Time magazine under the headline “is this the world greatest athlete?”
A dancer’s fitness would certainly match that of a top athlete. There are many other similarities, in that the arts struggle for funding like many second tier sports, simply because they do not attract media attention.
The Breakdancing has certainly done that in the past 48 hours. Especially the performance of Rachel Gunn from Australia, otherwise known as “Raygun.”
She became the first Olympic athlete to score zero.
The backlash on social media has been unbelievable. The abuse that Rachel Gunn has been subjected to has been truly awful.
Yet few have looked at her credentials, many simply saying that she should not have been allowed to compete.
Ms Gunn is a lecturer at Macquarie University in the Department of Media, Communications, Creative Arts, Language and Literature. She started Breakdancing in her mid 20’s, she is now 36. She coaches Breakdancing. She has competed at World Championships. Her husband is her coach, and is a breakdancer himself. It is fair to say it is an important part of her life.
Watching clips of her performing prior to Paris she clearly can breakdance, she also has a very distinct style, and has rhythm.
So many will ask what then was her performance in Paris all about?
This is where one has to look at Ms Gunn and her academic pursuits. Here you will find that she is clearly very committed to this form of dance. As an academic she is known for researching the “cultural politics of breaking.”
In fact in 2023 she had a paper accepted entitled “The Australian breaking scene and the Olympic Games: The possibilities and politics of sportification.”
It is well worth a read, as Ms Gunn looks at the reaction by the Breakdance community not just to being included in the Olympic Games but also the “concerns with the growing influence (and embrace) of transnational commercial organizations and institutional governing bodies in shaping and managing breaking’s future.”
She highlights “concerns of an increasing sportification of breaking, this trajectory points towards an increasing loss of self-determination, agency and spontaneity for local Australian breakers and will have profound consequences for the way in which hip hop personhood is constantly ‘remade and renegotiated’ in Australia.”
As the paper states Ms Gunn was interviewed by many new outlets in 2020 when it was anounced that Breakdancing would be in the Olympic Games, “she would often try to incorporate into her answer some of the concerns Australians breakers had about the Olympics.” These were it claims edited out and never made it to air. Clearly this was not the narrative that the media wanted, even if it was one the breaking community wanted to be heard.
The paper itself spoke to breakers around Australia from varying ethnicities, some of whom had represented Australia in International competition.
On reading the paper one realises that Breakers suffer the same challanges as many other dance forms and sportiung clubs in Australia, attracting an audience and sponsors.
In 2019 AusBreaking was set up as a not-for-profit organization that aimed to unite and represent the Australian breaking scene. The organisation immediately looked to unify the country by having at least one breaker from every Australian state and territory – more than one in the larger breakdancing scenes – selected to sit on AusBreaking’s executive committee. These individuals were selected to represent and voice the concerns of their local scene.
There was a very real fear that by including breakdancing in the Olympic Games breaking would be forced to move away from from its African American and Puerto Rican cultural roots and histories.
When one understands that Breakdancing falls under the auspices of the WDSF (World Dance Sport Federation) one wonders if there were ulterior motives in having Breakdance included in the Olympics. Whether there was a bigger play being planned.
As the report states, “the sportification of breaking necessitates the need for objectivity, transparency and professionalism.” Is this what Breakdancing really wants when its roots are very much about originality, self-expression and also often innovation?
The Conclusiuon of the paper is very fair and objective, as it states Olympic inclusion may present “the chance for wider recognition and legitimization of the dance, the monetary and career possibilities that a future breaking industry might provide and a sense that things will be easier for future generations of breakers.”
However, at what price? Again it conculdes the views of those spoken to and their concerns which “centred on the impact upon culture, and a potential loss of agency and self-determination.”
The paper warns that “making global what is essentially a localized practice invariably requires standardization, homogeneity, professionalism and risks further moving breaking away from its African American and Latin cultural traditions and histories.”
This may be what some want. There is no doubt that breaking has evolved since its early days, just as sport and other dance forms have, but it is vital that you always stay connected to those roots.
Having read this paper and hearing how the story that the Breaking community wanted to be heard was being ignored, one can now get a better insight into Ms Gunn’s performance. Here is someone truly passionate about Breakdancing and that community. Someone who is very much in touch with what it means be a breakdancer.
It makes one question now whether her performance was in fact trying to tell the world that this does not belong in the Olympic Games, and that the breakdance community does not want it sportified. They do not want to fall under the rules and regulations of the the World Dance Sport Federation or the IOC. After all it is supposed to be a spontateous self-expression to music; although one concedes that many performances are choreographed.
The truth is breakdancing and breakdancers have always been hard to comprehend to many, despite marvelling at what they can do.
In 1984 the movie “Breakin’ ” was released. It was called “Breakdance” in the UK. The budget was small for the time, just USD$1.2million. The film went on to make USD$38.7million. Many cinemas – if you remember what they were – had bypassed the film, but seeing people flock to see the film where it was on show they quickly added it to their screenings. The film critic in the Daily Telegraph in the UK had opted not to go and review the film, but then had to check out what all the fuss was about. While never going to be a screen classic it pulled people in and entertained, so much so that it led to a sequel.
The central character in the movie played by Lucinda Dickey is a traditional dancer who has the courage to break with the norm and show that there is a place for alternative dance styles. Was Rachel Gunn breaking with the norm to say that Breakdancing does not belong at the Olympics?
Maybe we should be praising Rachel Gunn for trying to protect the integrity of that dance style and convincing the majority involved that there is no place for it at the Olympic Games, and it does not wish to be a part of it?
This woman it would appear had far more courage than people are giving her credit. Hopefully she manages to ride the media storm, but most importantly remains respected in the community that she was representing.
