Australian dancer ‘Raygun’ is going viral for her Olympic breaking performance
When boxing women turned into battering women, the IOC’s response soured the Olympics for me. The Olympics used to be about perseverance, determination, excellence and other high-minded ideas. Now the Olympics is a media franchise that is chasing social media attention.
Break dancing tested well, so it’s an Olympic event. Looking into the break dancing event, I found that Australian break dancer, Rachel Gunn, was trending. This meme sums up the general response:
I don’t agree. Gunn’s routine is outlandish and compelling. I couldn’t stop watching. She seems to be saying, “I’m in Paris, competing in the Olympics, and this is how I dance.”
Good for her. Gunn can’t compete with the aggressive athleticism of the other competitors. She couldn’t even compete with the little Black kids I’ve seen break dancing on the street in Chicago in the late 80’s.
Known as the country’s best female breaker, Raygun has proudly represented Australia in 2021, 2022 and 2023 at the World Breaking Championships, per CNBC. She ranked 64 out of 80 breakers.
Rachel Gunn is Australia’s “Jamaican bobsled team”. Is it possible that Australia can’t do Black urban culture? Australia is far from the Western world, and have their own Black folks. It feels disrespectful to call Aborigines “Black folks”, because they are portrayed in media as an indigenous people with the mystic old wisdom. Maybe Aborigines fill the societal slot for Black culture, so they don’t need ours.