The moves were downright dizzying at the Olympics debut of a new event in Paris on Friday: breaking, more commonly referred to as “breakdancing.” As with other athletic competitions introduced to the games in recent years, there was plenty of debate as to whether breaking — here organized into a tournament of head-to-head dance battles observed by a panel of judges — can even be called a sport. But viewers certainly vibed with the personalities who showed up, even if the formal setting robbed the art form of its street-cool factor .
One B-girl on the scene for the women’s event (the men will do their spinning on Saturday) particularly fascinated those watching at home. Rachael Gunn, stage name “Raygun,” is a 36-year-old college professor from Australia. With both a music degree and a PhD in cultural studies, she pursues interdisciplinary research on breaking, street dance, hip-hop, and gender at Macquarie University in Sydney.
Along with her unusual academic credits, Gunn stands out as 20 years the senior of Australia’s competitor in the men’s tournament — she and 16-year-old Jeff “J-Attack” Dunne both won the Oceania breaking championships to qualify for the Olympics. She also got into breaking later in life than most who pursue it seriously, entering her first ever battle in 2012. But perhaps most of all, Gunn, uh, breaks the mold of this dance genre with creative choices that left spectators stunned.
As she went up against rivals representing Lithua.