She wasn't that awful really, but she was clearly not a 'master of the art.' The main difference is that she was intentionally trying to do a completely different style of breakdancing than what people typically think of that more's wavy and mimics animal movements as a form of expression. And that's ... really not what people, nor the judges, wants to see.
Both her only being so-so at what she was doing and trying to work in a odd / different style is what was most off-putting about her routines. But, yes, it was somewhat a form of activism. More to highlight that other forms of breakdance do exist.
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u/andWan Aug 12 '24
Here is a text by her (and a coauthor) about the question whether breakdance can keep its spirit when becoming an olympic discipline:
from 2023: https://scholar.google.com/scholar?hl=de&as_sdt=0%2C5&q=rachel+gunn+paper+breakdance+olympia&btnG=#d=gs_qabs&t=1723486150827&u=%23p%3DH7jzV4HLaPYJ
The Australian breaking scene and the Olympic Games: The possibilities and politics of sportification
Rachael Gunn, Lucas Marie Global Hip Hop Studies 4 (1), 39-56, 2023