The first Australian to compete in breaking in the Olympics is glad the sport is finally getting some love on the massive international stage of the Paris Olympics.
Rachael Gunn — who also goes by dance name Raygun — will represent her country as the sport makes its Olympic debut.
With a PhD in breakdancing and dance culture and an academic career lecturing on the topics, Gunn is somewhat of an expert.
Rachael Gunn has a PHD in breakdancing and dance culture and is a university lecturer. Source: AAP / Dan Himbrechts
She spoke to SBS News about her journey to Paris and the somewhat tiring life of a professional dancer.
Would the Olympics have been something on your radar a couple of years ago?
When the sport was first announced as being in the Olympics, I never thought that I would be representing Australia. When it was first announced, there was a lot of things we didn’t know about, how the judging would work, how the qualifiers would work and things like that. We’ve always had really big international competitions, but there are different requirements for the Olympics.
I didn’t think that I would be here preparing to go over and represent Australia, but I was certainly stepping up my training and I had my own goals in terms of my own performance and to try and be the best in the region. So the timing worked out quite well for me to be at my peak and to win the Oceania Championships last year.
What got you into this sport in the first place?
I’ve always been a dancer for many years. I actually did ballroom dancing and competed doing that, and I also did jazz and tap and some studio hip hop as well.
I’ve always enjoyed doing different dance styles and different sports as well. And I think I’ve always been open to trying new things. And it wasn’t until I met my now husband when I was 20 and he introduced me to breaking. He’d already been breaking for years. So he was the one that got me into it and encouraged me and has taught me pretty much all that.
I didn’t have the upper body strength. I didn’t come from a freestyle background. I come from a choreography background, so the learning curve was big for sure.
What kind of training do you do?
I’ve been doing strength and conditioning, so weights two to three times a week. And that’s made a huge difference in terms of building up my core strength, my lower body strength, my upper body strength, like everything, particularly my rotational strength because that’s really a big thing in breaking — a lot of twisting moves.
Then of course my training also involves actually practising the moves, focusing on technique and then also practising the moves within a combo and also then within a set.
Is the sport a full-time job and will the Olympics change that?
I’m a lecturer at Macquarie University and fortunately they’ve been so supportive of my preparation and I’ve had a really flexible workload this year to allow me to spend the time now training essentially full-time to prepare for the Olympics.
This Olympics is really going to change so many things about the sport. In 2020, when it was confirmed for Paris, there was a huge backlash across Australia about breaking being as part of the Olympics. And that mostly came from a place of ignorance, to be honest. People haven’t seen breaking since the eighties since they did it on a bit of cardboard on the street or when they do the worm at the office, Christmas party or at their mate’s wedding.
People haven’t seen breaking since the eighties since they did it on a bit of cardboard on the street or when they do the worm at the office, Christmas party or at their mate’s wedding.
So this has been an amazing opportunity for us to educate people about breaking. And as soon as people learn a bit more, as soon as they see it, they get really interested and they get really excited. And that’s just a total game-changer for us. It means that we are going to get more support for holding events, more support for school programs, for community outreach programs, and even in our contemporary theatre space.
What are the misconceptions people have about the sport?
I think maybe one misconception is that people think it looks easy to do, but there’s nothing in breaking that is easy to do. And just because it looks easy, just a simple sidestep or forward step in top rock, which is that first standing component of the dance, that technique takes so many years to move your weight properly and to look cool stepping forward or to the side.
There are so many videos of me for years looking so awkward, breaking, and I feel like it’s only the last few years that I don’t look awkward breaking. So there’s a huge amount of technique and hard work that goes into it as well as the athleticism as well as the creativity and the musicality.
There’s nothing in breaking that looks easy to do, and there’s nothing in breaking that is easy to do.
Does fatigue become an issue when you’re doing so many battles in the one day?
Yeah, definitely, particularly because it’s such a high-intensity round that you’re doing. You’ve got a minute and then you’ve got a minute to recover, and then maybe you’ve got an hour or something for the next one and you’ve got to be able to go again. So it really is fatiguing on the body, but that’s what we’re all preparing for to get ready for that day.
Lastly I was wondering if you have a favourite song or a favourite artist to perform to?
I mean, yeah, I do, but I’m definitely not going to hear it at the Olympics because of copyright issues. But I do love hearing Method Man, any of his tracks.
Wu-Tang Clan, I love some old school hip hop. Really, it’s gives me so much to work with, whereas a lot of the music in these competitions, they don’t have lyrics. They are a little bit more peeled back, so I find them sometimes a bit harder to work with. But anyway, I will make do with what I’ve got and I will act like it’s the best track I’ve heard in my life.
