A breaker competes at the Great Kiwi Break Off in 2023. Photo: Fabrice Coquet
It's a media frenzy that just won't end (this story is a case in point).
When Australian Rachael Gunn, aka Raygun, received zero points from judges for her Olympic breaking performances that included hopping like a kangaroo, the internet has convulsed.
An incompetent cheater who used her privilege and academic titles - her PhD focused on breaking - to get to the games? An embarrassment to the dance-turned-dancesport? Or an Australian give-it-a-go hero whose originality was overlooked by the judges?
Gunn beat other Oceania b-girls, including New Zealanders, fair and square to secure her place in the Olympics, according to some leaders in New Zealand's breaking community. But it left those leaders facing questions about why New Zealand couldn't muster a b-girl better than Gunn, whose physical ability was clearly below that of the other Olympic competitors.
Australian Rachael Gunn, aka Raygun during one of her Olympic performances. Photo: Odd Andersen/AFP
"Basically, as soon as the Olympics were done all of us were fielding so many messages from all our long lost friends and interested people, which was actually exhausting," said Dujon Cullingford, 36 and co-leader of Aotearoa New Zealand Breaking Association. The organisation was hastily pulled together by volunteers so New Zealand could send breakers to the Olympic qualifying event in Sydney last year.
On Tuesday, Cullingford set the record straight on the Raygun "algorithm orgy" with a lengthy Facebook post that has attracted almost 500 comments and over 1000 shares. In it, he supported Raygun's performance and the other breakers with the two days of Olympic competition keeping him "on the couch glued to the screen."
B-boy Akorn represented New Zealand at the Olympic qualifiers in Sydney. Photo: Fabrice Coquet
The Olympic qualifiers came at a not-great time for New Zealand b-girls. Some top women were heading into retirement and others had recently had babies, Cullingford wrote, adding that he spent time holding one of those babies at the qualifiers. He acknowledged that breaking in Oceania was a weaker breaking region and that changes could be made to the qualifying process to ensure only the best breakers globally make it to a stage like the Olympics
There's also confusion over breaking and New Zealand's strong showing in international hip hop dance competition and producing Rihanna-famous choreographer Parris Goebel etc. Shouldn't that mean we're good breakers as well?
"Breaking is quite a niche dance..." said Cullingford. Hip hop dance has long had the infrastructure in New Zealand with dozens of studios offering classes throughout the country. This has ensured a steady stream of top-tier talent from one generation to the next.
"We just don't have the numbers" said Jody Stewart, 41, a breaking teacher who goes by the b-girl name of Nossy. "It is a very small scene in Oceania for breaking. We don't have the infrastructure, the funding for breaking."
Kid students at Bridge Breakers, a breaking studio in Auckland. Photo: supplied/Bridge Breakers
The situation is a chicken and egg. Low numbers means no funding. No funding means limited resources to set up dance studios or elevate breaking's profile and attract new comers.
Stewart teaches about 20 kids through her breaking studio Bridge Breakers in Auckland's Mangere Bridge and another 20 at the primary school she works at.
Jody Stewart's daughter Molly. Photo: supplied/Bridge Breakers
"Breaking is so good for kids. On top of being physical and really great exercise, it is an art form. It is creative," said Stewart. "Kids get to explore making different shapes with their bodies."
The Raygun controversy has at least led people to look into why the Australian was so - apparently - bad, bringing a spotlight to breaking in Oceania, said Stewart, adding that herself and others in the community are still strategising how to make use of the media storm engulfing breaking.
"People are looking into [breaking] and that hasn't happened before," she said.
