Canberra's break dancers want people to know there's more to the sport than jokes about Raygun, Australia's first competitor in the Olympics.
While the dancing style might look odd to an outsider, the kids dancing at Kulture Break in southern Canberra say breaking takes a lot of hard work and perseverance.
Eight-year-old Edie Minehan wants to represent Australia at the Games just like Raygun did.
"She's my hero," she said. "When I was little, I used to love watching her dance in competitions and she brings the break and the fun in break dancing for me."
Breakdancing hits the internet
Break dancing, or breaking, made a memorable debut in the Paris Olympics, with the internet rioting over the performance of Australia's own Rachael Gunn, better known as her stage name Raygun.
The 36-year-old from Sydney, who has a day job as a lecturer at Macquarie University, has been ridiculed for her breaking routine, which featured a move similar to the hopping of a kangaroo.
Social media users blasted the dancer for her moves, with one user commenting that the performance was the "definition of 'when you lie on your resume and end up getting the job'" and Australia should have sent kangaroos to compete in breaking instead.
"Thank you for setting the bar so low and make me think that I can be an Olympic athlete as well," one user said.
Many asked why breaking was included in the Games at all, with the criticism so severe that one ACT dance studio told The Canberra Times they would not be able to respond to any comments about Olympic breakers.
Canberra breaker B-girl Fizzy said she's been dismayed at the backlash against Raygun's performance.
She faced off against Raygun at the qualifying championships, and said the Olympian deserved to go through.
"Raygun obviously has a very unique and original style, and that's actually an essential element in breaking," she said.
"She took that in her own way on that stage."
Raygun hit back at critics as well, telling fans on Instagram not to be scared of being themselves.
"Don't be afraid to be different, go out there and represent yourself, you never know where that's gonna take you," she said.
How many breakers?
Breaking emerged out of hip hop culture in the United States in the 1970s. According to the Australian Olympic Committee, the dance style is characterised by acrobatic movements, stylised footwork and the key role played by the DJ and the master of ceremonies (MC) during battles.
The sport was dropped from the schedule for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics before it had even began in Paris.
Archer Geier, 13, who dances in Canberra said the Olympics showed how diverse every breaker is.
"It was cool seeing how people from all over the world do different styles of break dance, but it's all still the same thing. They're all expressing themselves," he said.
More than 320,000 people in Australia dance every week, making up about 1.6 per cent of the national population.
While there is no specific data on breakdancing in the ACT, around 3240 Canberrans are involved with Dance Sport, which includes breaking, according to statistics from the Australian Sports Commission.
The future is bright for Canberra's young breakers, according to Fizzy.
"Breaking is part of a bigger culture, it's being part of a community, a dance style, an art form, and they'll have that for the rest of their lives," she said.
"Looking really cool while doing some great moves is also a plus."
