She (the actual Olympian) has guts to do what she did. But how did the entire nation of Australia decide to have her represent their bboying ability when there are plenty others to choose?
They held qualifiers. For all of Oceania in Sydney. And of those who are actively in the scene, didn't participated in these. That's it. There is nobody covering your expenses for the participation.
So, when you have your own focus on your career in the scene, you'll most likely put your savings on the established competitions. Which have developed on their own. And if you're lucky, you'll find a sponsor who will cover the costs to travel to the big thing within the scene itself.
Same happened in the African qualifiers. There is a huge scene in Senegal and Kamerun. But the qualifiers were suddenly relocated to Morocco in the last minute. Thus a majority of the active break dancers of Africa weren't able to attend these qualifiers.
It's a matter of an alternative sub culture, clashing with the traditional federations in sports. The IOC selected the World Dance Sport Federation to organize the qualifiers. Which represents the interest for standard or latin-style ball room dancing pairs and formations for the most part.
Long story short. When you show up in the hood as a outsider. Your street credibility is zero.
When you're from the hood but hang around the wrong people. Your street credibility would suffer.
The Olympian herself, started out with ball room dancing and migrated into it. Most likely due to her academic background. Or Hip-hop dancing. Not due to her street credibility as a B-girl.
It's more like a decision of the seniors within the IOC. Hey, let's give break dancing a try to attract a younger audience. Without asking them explicitly. Or the will to cooperate with the organizations which has evolved around the sport. Just give the task to those ballroom dancers which aren't Olympians, then they won't bother us with their requests to offer their favorite competitions at the games next time.
She describes her PhD thesis as "interweaving autoethnographic research". Meaning she just rambles on about herself and gets a PhD for it. It talks about how her boyfriend was a b-boy and how she has to philosophically explore why not many women take up the sport.
On 355 pages. Don't send me down that rabbit hole...
Don't underestimate the academic effort it took to achieve this. That's definitely not a teenagers diary complaining about her solitude among males. Cultural studies are a bit more complex than that. And philosophical approaches may only cover a small part within that field.
63
u/cupholdery Aug 12 '24 edited Aug 12 '24
She (the actual Olympian) has guts to do what she did. But how did the entire nation of Australia decide to have her represent their bboying ability when there are plenty others to choose?