Breakdancing? At the Olympics?! Wild! And wild is the right word when you take a look at Rachael Gunn‘s offering at the event as the breakdancing representative for Australia.
France raised a few eyebrows when it announced that it would be adding the most beloved dance of the 1980s to the list of categories for the 2024 Olympics. Thanks to Rachael, this may be the only time B Girls and B Boys get the opportunity to showcase their skills on the Olympic stage. After watching the Aussie entry, X is lit up with comments, criticisms, and analysis of Gunn’s performance that managed to snag zero points.
In a bold move, Rachael chose to wear her team’s official uniform to participate in the event. Not a terrible idea, you might think, but when seen side by side with the achingly cool streetwear of the other competitors in the category, Rachael ended up looking more like an enthusiastic PE teacher who had come to show the kids how it is done.
Or, as it turns out, not done.
In a performance that was more flip-flop than hip-hop, Rachael made her way around the stage in a series of moves that some said was reminiscent of a sugar-fuelled toddler at bedtime.
After witnessing the performance, astute and chronically online millennials quickly remembered this classic viral video from 14 years ago and soon bombarded it with comments, hailing it as the inspiration for Gunn’s breakdance.
Rachael Gunn didn’t win, but someone is getting the limelight they were originally denied
Starring Dena Rizzo, the video gained her a spot in the Internet Hall of Fame when a highlights reel of her breakdancing tutorial video found its way to YouTube in 2010.
In the clip, Dena takes us through what Hip Hop means to her, and how it is not just music, or dancing. For her, it is a way of being. “This is me. This is how I am. This is a lifestyle… this is it.”
One commenter on the YouTube video helpfully wrote down the moves Dena demonstrated: “the moves are “ah, bah, point, boom, bam, hit, flex foot” just in case anyone needed to write that down.”
The comments section on this years-old video is having a renaissance, with users flocking to reminisce after Rachael’s bid for an Olympic win. One user asked, “Is this where the lady form Australia learned her moves?”
All that being said, this is where we have to get serious for a moment. I mean, “Dena talking about hip hop” serious. You see when the video first went viral all those years ago, Dena went into hiding. Ashamed of the video and upset by the cruel comments made after the video surfaced, she fell into a well of insecurity that she couldn’t climb out from, for years.
Until recently.
TikTok user Taylor Tarantino dressed as Dena for Halloween in 2023 and posted several videos of her performing the highlights from the original video.
With almost a million likes, Taylor knew that she had the audience on her side, and no one was mocking Dena. In actual fact, there was real love for Dena out there in cold, cruel cyberspace. User @LokiSkywalker commented, “This is amazing! Dena is awesome, I love her!”.
It wasn’t long until people were crying out for a collab. But how was Taylor supposed to find Dena? Taylor tried a good, old-fashioned persuasively worded email, and waited.
She found our queen of hip hop! Not only that, but they have a whole series of amazing collab videos, too.
What was a humiliating moment in Dena’s life is now her superpower. She now has her own fantastic TikTok channel where she documents her life of dancing and traveling. She even takes a moment to address that video.
In the second part, Dena goes on to tell how Taylor transformed her life and let her see that she wasn’t the figure of ridicule she feared, but was beloved by a generation of people who grew up quoting her words and emulating her unique style of dancing.
User @moonandstars commented. “I really love this for you. Not many get a chance to get over a rough time in their life,” while @blessedstarfish had this to say: “I’m so glad this woman is getting her flowers.”
Me too, @blessedstarfish. Me, too.
The remarkable thing about Rachael and Dena is that they are unafraid and unashamed to commit to their passions 100%, which is a rare thing in an age where our every move could be documented and posted online for scrutiny. These two brave women may not be conventional, they may stand out from the crowd, and, like all of us, they may get it wrong sometimes — breakdancing is certainly not a skill that is ready to be appreciated at the Olympics any time soon.
So, meanwhile, let’s celebrate being passionate about the things we do, and doing them in the way that feels right to us. Forget about the critics. In the words of Matt Haig:
“Never be cool. Never try and be cool. Never worry what the cool people think. Head for the warm people. Life is warmth. You’ll be cool when you’re dead.”
Let’s hope that there’s a Rachael Gunn/Dena Rizzo collab in the future.