The Australian Breakdancer Raygun has been stranded in a new musical, but the Olympic fiasco was not a comedy | Lyndsey Winship

OneVery can have a bad day at the office. But for most of us it does not take place for millions of viewers at the largest sporting event in the world. That was the fate of Rachael Gunn, also known as B-Girl Raygun, who scored a memorable zero points for Australia at the Olympic Games in Paris in 2024 with her routine tailored to a Kangaroo Hop.

Gunn was bumped on social media, partly about the quality of her dance (more about that later), but usually only the usual sexist gufff focused on every woman in the public eye that was considered wrong. A year later the stack continues: this time in music theater form when breaking the musical, an Edinburgh Fringe comedy that is a funny bit of bants or a cruel character murder, depending on your point of view.

The Cardinal Sin Gunn seems to have committed himself in Aussie Comedian and writer Steph Broadbridge’s eyes is unable to laugh at himself. A version of the show was canceled in Sydney in December after a notification from Gunn’s Lawyers. As Broadbridge told the New York Times, the jokes became when grim, legal steps became part of the show, the name of the protagonist became Spraygun and they called it fiction.

It is a very crazy and not -entertaining -show (especially, I imagine, if you are Australian -there are a few niche jokes), but I did feel sorry. Spraygun is painted as a right -rich rich girl who has been misled that she could come to the Olympic Games, can cheat her way to the team and robes Australia of his dignity for the rest of the world.

A rumor then was that Gunn’s husband had been on the selection panel, but that’s indiscriminate. The way in which the overall selection process was designed, there were places for the hosts, winners of the world championship and top dancers of a series of qualifying companies, plus one from the own championship of each continent, Gunn got into the team. The B-Girl scene of Oceania is clearly not as developed as other regions worldwide worldwide, because if its size (only 0.6% of the world’s population.) So, yes, she was lucky and better breakers from all over the world, but it was not a Gunn’s mistake. It is also worth saying that there are fantastic dancers who do not believe in breaking like a sport and may not have arrived. (No dancers from the UK qualified, male or female.)

Against the best in the world, Gunn was from her depth, but was she really that bad? If you look at all her rounds, she would at least 99% of the trolls ridiculed her. She had a few power movements (main spins, backspins) and freezes. Floor work when breaking is difficult, and it is not always graceful. Of course, her style is a bit awkward from teen B-girls much more agile and athletic than the older generation-Dus she leaned on humor, personality, idiosyncrasy, all of which are legitimate parts of the battle culture. Especially at the last round when she had no chance to get through, she just tried to have some fun. She didn’t quite do it, but that is live improvisation for you.

Breaking the musical has a major problem with the fact that the dancer is white and middle class. “Be an ally, stick to ballet” goes a line in one song. It is a neat half rhythe, but are we real gateway who has allowed what kind of dance? It is absolutely necessary to recognize the black American and Latino roots of Breaking and to consider access from opportunities and training and financing structures that can disadvantage certain groups, but hip-hop is now a global art form, with some of the best dancers from China and Japan. In the past you could only learn on the street, in the community or cross the country to train directly with others. Now young dancers learn themselves in their bedroom from YouTube. It is a growing culture, but that is a characteristic of the phenomenal success of the art form. There is also a lot of spot that Gunn has a doctorate and that her thesis was gender in hip hop dance. So hip -hop culture is not worth an academic study, you say?

Broadbridge would probably think that I am over-earnest. What is the most sad about the entire fiasco is that breaking is already outside the Olympic Games, without the event having time to enter and iron one of the mistakes. It was not chosen for the Los Angeles games from 2028 and we will have to wait for Brisbane 2032. The Hoo-Ha on the performance of Raygun (instead of the performance itself) the artists overshadowed at the highest level. Does anyone even remember who has won?