1 00:00:06,200 --> 00:00:09,760 Speaker 1: Rachel Gunn, better known as ray Gun, is Australia's top 2 00:00:09,840 --> 00:00:13,200 Speaker 1: ranked B girl. She's always had a love for dancing, 3 00:00:13,400 --> 00:00:15,720 Speaker 1: but it wasn't till her twenties that she fell in 4 00:00:15,720 --> 00:00:19,680 Speaker 1: love with breaking. Coming fresh of victory in the twenty 5 00:00:19,720 --> 00:00:24,120 Speaker 1: twenty three Oceania Championships, Raygun is ready to dance her 6 00:00:24,160 --> 00:00:27,840 Speaker 1: way into the Paras Olympics, with the Paris Games marking 7 00:00:27,880 --> 00:00:30,319 Speaker 1: the first time sport will be on display at an 8 00:00:30,360 --> 00:00:34,680 Speaker 1: Olympic level by day. Raygun is a full time university 9 00:00:34,760 --> 00:00:37,959 Speaker 1: lecturer and has combined her passion for feminism with her 10 00:00:38,000 --> 00:00:41,640 Speaker 1: love of breaking to write a PhD on the intersection 11 00:00:41,760 --> 00:00:45,240 Speaker 1: of gender and breaking culture, bringing her passion for the 12 00:00:45,280 --> 00:00:49,519 Speaker 1: sport into the classroom with her. My name's Sophie and 13 00:00:49,560 --> 00:00:53,120 Speaker 1: I'm the producer here at the Female Athlete Project. Chloe 14 00:00:53,120 --> 00:00:55,600 Speaker 1: caught up with Rachel as she was prepping her final 15 00:00:55,640 --> 00:00:58,680 Speaker 1: moves in the lead up to the Paris Games. This 16 00:00:58,840 --> 00:01:02,320 Speaker 1: chat is so interesting, especially if like me, you didn't 17 00:01:02,320 --> 00:01:05,440 Speaker 1: know much about breaking, because Raygun takes us through all 18 00:01:05,440 --> 00:01:08,280 Speaker 1: the regulations and rules we need to know for the 19 00:01:08,319 --> 00:01:11,479 Speaker 1: Paris Games. We hope you enjoy it and it gets 20 00:01:11,480 --> 00:01:13,920 Speaker 1: you ready to cheer on Raypun and all the other 21 00:01:13,959 --> 00:01:15,920 Speaker 1: big girls in just a few days time. 22 00:01:16,160 --> 00:01:19,760 Speaker 2: On August nine, Rachel, welcome to the Female Athlete Project. 23 00:01:19,840 --> 00:01:22,360 Speaker 3: Thank you so much for having me excited. 24 00:01:22,440 --> 00:01:24,440 Speaker 2: It's going to be great to have a chat. You're 25 00:01:24,480 --> 00:01:28,520 Speaker 2: currently preparing for the Olympics. Yeah, how on earth does 26 00:01:28,520 --> 00:01:29,000 Speaker 2: that feel? 27 00:01:29,520 --> 00:01:34,039 Speaker 3: Oh it's still like something that I feel like I'm 28 00:01:34,040 --> 00:01:35,720 Speaker 3: going to wake up from a dream one day and 29 00:01:35,760 --> 00:01:38,720 Speaker 3: be like, that was super random dream me preparing for 30 00:01:38,760 --> 00:01:43,040 Speaker 3: the Olympics. Yeah, it's it's wild because I never thought 31 00:01:43,120 --> 00:01:46,800 Speaker 3: that I would be an Olympian. You know. I was 32 00:01:46,840 --> 00:01:50,720 Speaker 3: more of a dancy kid and breaking wasn't in the Olympics. So, 33 00:01:50,880 --> 00:01:53,919 Speaker 3: you know, this has just been totally unexpected, but also 34 00:01:54,040 --> 00:01:55,480 Speaker 3: a real honor and a privilege. 35 00:01:55,720 --> 00:01:58,640 Speaker 2: Take us back to you as a little kid. What 36 00:01:58,680 --> 00:02:00,600 Speaker 2: were you like and how did you find a love 37 00:02:00,600 --> 00:02:01,200 Speaker 2: for dancing? 38 00:02:01,360 --> 00:02:03,040 Speaker 3: Oh? Look, I was a little bit of a weirdo, 39 00:02:03,240 --> 00:02:06,480 Speaker 3: to be honest, I love that here for that, Okay, 40 00:02:06,960 --> 00:02:11,160 Speaker 3: Like honestly, looking back, I'm just like, oh, I don't know. 41 00:02:11,200 --> 00:02:13,240 Speaker 3: There were there were some odd things that I did, like, 42 00:02:15,240 --> 00:02:19,040 Speaker 3: for example, bringing my parents in on a Saturday and 43 00:02:19,560 --> 00:02:24,400 Speaker 3: making them watch me perform to the entire Lion King 44 00:02:24,480 --> 00:02:27,480 Speaker 3: soundtrack in a lion outfit as well. 45 00:02:27,440 --> 00:02:28,960 Speaker 2: The full length of the soundtrack. 46 00:02:29,080 --> 00:02:32,760 Speaker 3: Length of the soundtrack. Yeah, I didn't have that much material, mind. 47 00:02:32,560 --> 00:02:36,040 Speaker 2: You, and did like paying twenty cents to watch a 48 00:02:36,080 --> 00:02:37,320 Speaker 2: show or it was free entry. 49 00:02:37,440 --> 00:02:42,200 Speaker 3: It was free entry. They filmed it and they were 50 00:02:42,240 --> 00:02:45,200 Speaker 3: just laughing behind the camera at times because they kept 51 00:02:45,200 --> 00:02:47,560 Speaker 3: thinking that it would be over, and I just kept going. 52 00:02:48,200 --> 00:02:55,240 Speaker 3: It just never ended. So soundtrack though, how many different emotions. 53 00:02:55,360 --> 00:02:58,440 Speaker 3: I love that so kind of like the kind of 54 00:02:58,520 --> 00:03:01,960 Speaker 3: kid that just in my own world was a little 55 00:03:01,960 --> 00:03:05,400 Speaker 3: bit odd. And you know, I think that also explains 56 00:03:05,440 --> 00:03:08,240 Speaker 3: maybe why you know, I fell into breaking in my 57 00:03:08,320 --> 00:03:11,200 Speaker 3: mid twenties, Like I've always kind of done things a 58 00:03:11,240 --> 00:03:12,160 Speaker 3: little bit differently. 59 00:03:12,520 --> 00:03:15,880 Speaker 2: So yeah, And so what kind of dance were you 60 00:03:15,960 --> 00:03:16,760 Speaker 2: doing when you were younger? 61 00:03:17,080 --> 00:03:21,079 Speaker 3: Yeah, so I did. I actually did boorom for many years, 62 00:03:21,120 --> 00:03:24,519 Speaker 3: like six or seven years, and competed with my siblings, 63 00:03:24,600 --> 00:03:27,279 Speaker 3: so very elustrictly borom fantastic. 64 00:03:27,560 --> 00:03:28,239 Speaker 2: I love that. 65 00:03:28,360 --> 00:03:31,680 Speaker 3: And then I did jazz and tap for many years 66 00:03:31,720 --> 00:03:34,680 Speaker 3: as well. I tried ballet here and there, but not 67 00:03:34,720 --> 00:03:39,720 Speaker 3: cut out for me. No, And then what did I do? 68 00:03:39,960 --> 00:03:41,720 Speaker 3: I think I did a little bit of swing dancing 69 00:03:41,720 --> 00:03:45,000 Speaker 3: as well with my partner, which was a lot of fun. Yeah, 70 00:03:45,040 --> 00:03:47,320 Speaker 3: and I did a bit of studio hip hop. So 71 00:03:47,400 --> 00:03:51,040 Speaker 3: I really just liked trying different things. And you know, 72 00:03:51,080 --> 00:03:54,480 Speaker 3: I tried a lot of different sport as well. I 73 00:03:54,560 --> 00:03:57,960 Speaker 3: like kind of just yeah, trying new things, seeing what 74 00:03:58,040 --> 00:04:01,120 Speaker 3: I like, seeing what I can do. For example, not 75 00:04:01,200 --> 00:04:02,160 Speaker 3: a water polo. 76 00:04:01,920 --> 00:04:04,840 Speaker 2: Player, Good to check that off the list. 77 00:04:04,920 --> 00:04:07,520 Speaker 3: Yeah, I learned that the hard way over a term 78 00:04:07,600 --> 00:04:08,840 Speaker 3: that where I almost drowned. 79 00:04:10,160 --> 00:04:13,640 Speaker 2: Yep, okay, right, safety first, kids in the water. 80 00:04:15,040 --> 00:04:19,080 Speaker 3: So but yeah, So I tried breaking then in my 81 00:04:19,120 --> 00:04:22,960 Speaker 3: mid twenties, which was really nice because I hadn't been 82 00:04:23,040 --> 00:04:25,640 Speaker 3: dancing for a few years. Like you know, being a 83 00:04:25,720 --> 00:04:30,760 Speaker 3: dancer is really expensive, although studio classes, but breaking, it's 84 00:04:30,760 --> 00:04:33,240 Speaker 3: totally different. With breaking, I mean, you learn the foundation. 85 00:04:33,600 --> 00:04:35,560 Speaker 3: I did go to classes for a little bit, but 86 00:04:35,600 --> 00:04:40,400 Speaker 3: then you just go and practice that foundation with others 87 00:04:40,480 --> 00:04:44,200 Speaker 3: in a pyc or a community hall or even a 88 00:04:44,240 --> 00:04:47,240 Speaker 3: public space that people use for training. So it was 89 00:04:47,320 --> 00:04:51,599 Speaker 3: much cheaper, and yes, it makes it so much more accessible. 90 00:04:51,640 --> 00:04:53,279 Speaker 3: And I think that's also one of the great things 91 00:04:53,279 --> 00:04:55,600 Speaker 3: about having it in the Olympics because it attracts a 92 00:04:55,640 --> 00:04:57,000 Speaker 3: different group of people. 93 00:04:57,320 --> 00:04:59,960 Speaker 2: Yeah, that's really cool, okay, because there's a lot of 94 00:05:00,120 --> 00:05:01,720 Speaker 2: like if we look at sports as a whole, there's 95 00:05:01,760 --> 00:05:05,320 Speaker 2: a lot of barriers to different types of sports as well. Yeah, 96 00:05:05,360 --> 00:05:07,640 Speaker 2: so it's actually really cool when you hear examples of 97 00:05:07,680 --> 00:05:09,680 Speaker 2: like you can just get involved by going down and 98 00:05:09,720 --> 00:05:10,719 Speaker 2: finding a local group. 99 00:05:11,000 --> 00:05:13,640 Speaker 3: Yeah, totally. You don't need a uniform, you don't need 100 00:05:13,680 --> 00:05:16,320 Speaker 3: any equipment. You know, you can pretty much wear what 101 00:05:16,360 --> 00:05:21,560 Speaker 3: you'd wear on the street. And it's a very social culture, 102 00:05:21,680 --> 00:05:25,280 Speaker 3: very social sport where people help each other, people teach 103 00:05:25,320 --> 00:05:28,760 Speaker 3: each other moves, people teach each other different combinations, and 104 00:05:28,800 --> 00:05:31,760 Speaker 3: then you go to an event and you battle and 105 00:05:31,800 --> 00:05:34,920 Speaker 3: you see other people's progress and it's really positive. So 106 00:05:35,600 --> 00:05:39,160 Speaker 3: it's for that reason. Yeah, it definitely captures a different 107 00:05:39,240 --> 00:05:42,680 Speaker 3: group of people, particularly people that maybe want to participate 108 00:05:42,760 --> 00:05:45,919 Speaker 3: in sport or you know, do something physically active, but 109 00:05:46,640 --> 00:05:49,800 Speaker 3: don't have the whole kind of nuclear family around them 110 00:05:49,880 --> 00:05:52,680 Speaker 3: to drive them all over New South Wales to take 111 00:05:52,720 --> 00:05:56,000 Speaker 3: them to all the sporting engagements and things like that. 112 00:05:56,080 --> 00:05:59,080 Speaker 3: You know, there's so many things associated with traditional sport 113 00:05:59,200 --> 00:06:01,800 Speaker 3: that excludes a number of people. 114 00:06:01,880 --> 00:06:06,040 Speaker 2: So you touched on the foundations of breaking, What are they? 115 00:06:06,720 --> 00:06:08,720 Speaker 2: Without going into too like give us like a high 116 00:06:08,760 --> 00:06:10,520 Speaker 2: level rundown of the foundations. 117 00:06:10,760 --> 00:06:16,000 Speaker 3: Yeah, so this is a really interesting question and it's 118 00:06:16,080 --> 00:06:18,040 Speaker 3: a tricky one to answer. So first of all, let 119 00:06:18,080 --> 00:06:19,520 Speaker 3: me explain breaking a little bit. 120 00:06:19,600 --> 00:06:20,119 Speaker 2: Great idea. 121 00:06:20,240 --> 00:06:24,120 Speaker 3: So you have top rock, which is the standing part 122 00:06:24,279 --> 00:06:27,200 Speaker 3: of the dance, and that's often the way that you 123 00:06:27,240 --> 00:06:30,600 Speaker 3: start your set or you're around. You walk out onto 124 00:06:30,640 --> 00:06:34,240 Speaker 3: the dance floor. You're showing your confidence and then you're 125 00:06:34,600 --> 00:06:38,360 Speaker 3: responding to the music and showing your musicality. Then you 126 00:06:38,480 --> 00:06:42,599 Speaker 3: drop to the floor called a drop, and you might 127 00:06:42,680 --> 00:06:47,600 Speaker 3: do some footwork. So footwork is the stuff where you're 128 00:06:47,600 --> 00:06:50,719 Speaker 3: in a like a squat or a tabletop position and 129 00:06:50,760 --> 00:06:53,880 Speaker 3: you're doing lots of kicks and spins and things like that. 130 00:06:54,880 --> 00:06:58,080 Speaker 3: And then you've also got power moves, which are like 131 00:06:58,120 --> 00:07:01,440 Speaker 3: the really kind of spinage in gymnastic y style moves, 132 00:07:01,440 --> 00:07:07,000 Speaker 3: and wind mills, head spins, blares and freezes, which is 133 00:07:07,120 --> 00:07:10,360 Speaker 3: just you know, as you as it suggests a held pose, 134 00:07:11,600 --> 00:07:15,040 Speaker 3: usually a pretty difficult one though, and ideally to a 135 00:07:15,080 --> 00:07:16,040 Speaker 3: beat in the music. 136 00:07:17,120 --> 00:07:17,440 Speaker 2: Nice. 137 00:07:17,560 --> 00:07:20,560 Speaker 3: Yeah, okay, so it's like du you know, it is 138 00:07:20,680 --> 00:07:23,960 Speaker 3: like really kind of exaggerates it. So when you learn 139 00:07:24,200 --> 00:07:26,760 Speaker 3: start to learn breaking, you're learning kind of the basic 140 00:07:26,840 --> 00:07:34,400 Speaker 3: steps off each of those elements, so and yeah, how 141 00:07:34,400 --> 00:07:36,680 Speaker 3: do I explain it? So, yeah, you learn some kind 142 00:07:36,720 --> 00:07:39,760 Speaker 3: of more classic steps in each of the in each 143 00:07:39,800 --> 00:07:43,280 Speaker 3: of the elements, and then you're expected to build off 144 00:07:43,360 --> 00:07:47,080 Speaker 3: from that. So come up with your own variations or 145 00:07:47,120 --> 00:07:49,800 Speaker 3: come up with your own even new combinations. But the 146 00:07:49,880 --> 00:07:54,720 Speaker 3: foundation is pretty broad and pretty big that it just 147 00:07:54,960 --> 00:07:57,760 Speaker 3: you know, I'm still mastering my foundation. But you know, 148 00:07:57,960 --> 00:08:03,000 Speaker 3: like things like one freeze can help you then go 149 00:08:03,160 --> 00:08:06,200 Speaker 3: into a power move, you know, or doing foollwork and 150 00:08:06,320 --> 00:08:08,360 Speaker 3: help you then with this other power move. So it 151 00:08:08,480 --> 00:08:11,440 Speaker 3: kind of helps you step up in terms of your 152 00:08:11,480 --> 00:08:16,280 Speaker 3: performance of different aspects of the dance. Yeah, it's cool. 153 00:08:16,560 --> 00:08:19,760 Speaker 2: I love learning this stuff. It's really cool. How did 154 00:08:19,800 --> 00:08:23,080 Speaker 2: it become an Olympic sport? And how did you feel 155 00:08:23,320 --> 00:08:24,800 Speaker 2: when you found out that it was going to be 156 00:08:24,960 --> 00:08:25,560 Speaker 2: in Paris? 157 00:08:26,040 --> 00:08:31,520 Speaker 3: Yeah? So interesting. It really came as a surprise to 158 00:08:31,600 --> 00:08:34,800 Speaker 3: the breaking community that it was an Olympic, that it 159 00:08:34,840 --> 00:08:38,120 Speaker 3: was being considered as an Olympic sport. It's not something 160 00:08:38,120 --> 00:08:41,000 Speaker 3: that we'd been advocating for a long time or anything 161 00:08:41,080 --> 00:08:45,120 Speaker 3: like that the IOC, I think in general, was trying 162 00:08:45,120 --> 00:08:49,640 Speaker 3: to shift to include more youth oriented urban activities, so 163 00:08:49,720 --> 00:08:53,120 Speaker 3: you know, skateboarding, BMX and all that kind of comes 164 00:08:53,120 --> 00:08:58,199 Speaker 3: into that. So breaking when they were kind of when 165 00:08:58,200 --> 00:09:00,280 Speaker 3: they found out about breaking, that were like, this could 166 00:09:00,320 --> 00:09:05,400 Speaker 3: really work. But we didn't have any global governing body. 167 00:09:05,520 --> 00:09:08,360 Speaker 3: We didn't even have any national sporting federation. It was 168 00:09:08,400 --> 00:09:13,400 Speaker 3: still very grassroots. Yeah, so the World Dance Sport Federation, 169 00:09:13,679 --> 00:09:18,960 Speaker 3: which governs ballroom, are the governing body for breaking in 170 00:09:19,000 --> 00:09:20,400 Speaker 3: the Olympics. 171 00:09:20,160 --> 00:09:23,480 Speaker 2: And that's only happened since the IOC's decision. 172 00:09:23,800 --> 00:09:27,000 Speaker 3: Yeah. Well, I think they authored the submission to our 173 00:09:27,040 --> 00:09:30,079 Speaker 3: IOC saying, hey, we could be the ones right to 174 00:09:31,280 --> 00:09:34,720 Speaker 3: govern and put breaking in the Olympics, and the IOC 175 00:09:34,880 --> 00:09:36,600 Speaker 3: is like, yep, that works for us. 176 00:09:37,880 --> 00:09:42,280 Speaker 2: So did it work for the breaking an adjustment at first? 177 00:09:42,840 --> 00:09:48,160 Speaker 3: Yeah, there was definitely some what's going on here? Who 178 00:09:48,160 --> 00:09:51,240 Speaker 3: are these people? What do they know about breaking? But 179 00:09:51,960 --> 00:09:54,280 Speaker 3: there was you know, some really great people in the 180 00:09:54,320 --> 00:09:58,280 Speaker 3: breaking community that went spoke to the WDSF and had 181 00:09:58,280 --> 00:10:04,400 Speaker 3: a really collegial relationship and you know, with the the 182 00:10:04,720 --> 00:10:07,160 Speaker 3: breaking was in the Youth Olympic Games in twenty eighteen 183 00:10:07,200 --> 00:10:10,920 Speaker 3: and Brunos Aires and it went really really well. You know, 184 00:10:11,000 --> 00:10:14,480 Speaker 3: the breakers were in charge of many aspects of the event. 185 00:10:14,720 --> 00:10:17,559 Speaker 3: There were breaking judges. We've got a preview of how 186 00:10:17,559 --> 00:10:20,480 Speaker 3: it might work, so I think by and large the 187 00:10:20,559 --> 00:10:23,800 Speaker 3: reaction then was like, Okay, this, this could be really good. 188 00:10:24,040 --> 00:10:28,320 Speaker 3: But we had to just to ensure we still had 189 00:10:28,320 --> 00:10:30,240 Speaker 3: a seat at the table and that we were all 190 00:10:30,280 --> 00:10:33,079 Speaker 3: being represented, we had to rush and make all our 191 00:10:33,120 --> 00:10:37,520 Speaker 3: own national sporting federations. So US breaking was only established 192 00:10:37,559 --> 00:10:38,440 Speaker 3: in twenty nineteen. 193 00:10:38,880 --> 00:10:41,240 Speaker 2: It's a bizarre concept, isn't it. 194 00:10:41,320 --> 00:10:45,319 Speaker 3: Yes. Yeah, so it's been a really huge learning curve, 195 00:10:45,920 --> 00:10:50,400 Speaker 3: not only for us individually, but you know, as you know, 196 00:10:50,440 --> 00:10:54,240 Speaker 3: the organizer, the association in terms of thinking about things 197 00:10:54,360 --> 00:11:00,760 Speaker 3: like national rankings and you know, policies and who can 198 00:11:00,800 --> 00:11:02,760 Speaker 3: do this and who can do that. Like, it's just 199 00:11:02,800 --> 00:11:06,439 Speaker 3: been a total shift in our culture. 200 00:11:07,280 --> 00:11:10,959 Speaker 2: And is that quite strange for something that the whole 201 00:11:11,000 --> 00:11:13,560 Speaker 2: concept of it can be around the culture and the 202 00:11:13,559 --> 00:11:15,520 Speaker 2: community and the fact that you can do it at 203 00:11:15,559 --> 00:11:18,280 Speaker 2: your local pcyc. Yeah, to then come in and have 204 00:11:18,320 --> 00:11:21,560 Speaker 2: a lot of rules and regulations that didn't necessarily align 205 00:11:21,600 --> 00:11:24,720 Speaker 2: with the sports values or sorry, I guess the dance's values. 206 00:11:25,040 --> 00:11:29,960 Speaker 3: Yeah, look, I think I mean, it's a great team 207 00:11:30,000 --> 00:11:32,040 Speaker 3: that I WAS Breaking and I think they've done really 208 00:11:32,040 --> 00:11:35,679 Speaker 3: well to find that balance. But it doesn't mean that 209 00:11:35,760 --> 00:11:38,920 Speaker 3: all the breaking events in Australia need to be under 210 00:11:39,400 --> 00:11:44,720 Speaker 3: this particular kind of framework. So you know, if you 211 00:11:44,760 --> 00:11:47,839 Speaker 3: don't want to have those kinds of events, you can 212 00:11:48,240 --> 00:11:50,240 Speaker 3: go to a totally different kind of event. And that's 213 00:11:50,240 --> 00:11:51,920 Speaker 3: the same around the world as well. If you don't 214 00:11:51,920 --> 00:11:54,520 Speaker 3: want to go to those WDSF events, the World Dance 215 00:11:54,520 --> 00:11:57,840 Speaker 3: Sport Federation events, there's a lot of other breaking events 216 00:11:57,880 --> 00:12:00,400 Speaker 3: that that aren't bound by the same kind of rules 217 00:12:00,440 --> 00:12:04,760 Speaker 3: and regulations and expectations. So you know, and we've seen 218 00:12:04,800 --> 00:12:07,760 Speaker 3: that reaction in not only in Australia but around the world. 219 00:12:07,840 --> 00:12:10,280 Speaker 3: People go, you know, that's great breaking is in the Olympics. 220 00:12:10,320 --> 00:12:12,800 Speaker 3: Not my vibe, though, I'm going to go to these 221 00:12:12,800 --> 00:12:14,520 Speaker 3: events and I'm going to do these other things. 222 00:12:14,640 --> 00:12:18,560 Speaker 2: Okay, yeah, yeah, Wow. What has your process been like 223 00:12:18,920 --> 00:12:21,000 Speaker 2: to qualify for the Paris Games? 224 00:12:21,559 --> 00:12:21,959 Speaker 1: Well? 225 00:12:23,200 --> 00:12:28,920 Speaker 3: Yeah, this, yeah, there was a lot of unknowns, you 226 00:12:28,960 --> 00:12:33,880 Speaker 3: know so much, so you know, how I was Breaking 227 00:12:33,920 --> 00:12:37,480 Speaker 3: was established in twenty nineteen. It was announced to being 228 00:12:37,480 --> 00:12:40,600 Speaker 3: the Olympics in twenty twenty, and there were so many 229 00:12:40,640 --> 00:12:43,160 Speaker 3: things that kept changing in terms of how the qualifications 230 00:12:43,240 --> 00:12:45,520 Speaker 3: was going to work, because you know, we were building 231 00:12:45,559 --> 00:12:48,520 Speaker 3: the ground under us. Yeah, you know, so things just 232 00:12:48,640 --> 00:12:51,840 Speaker 3: kept shifting and changing. So we didn't know whether we 233 00:12:51,840 --> 00:12:55,160 Speaker 3: were going to get an Oceania qualifier. We didn't know 234 00:12:55,160 --> 00:12:58,920 Speaker 3: if we'd get Oceania spots. So the last few years 235 00:12:59,040 --> 00:13:02,960 Speaker 3: I've been traveling to international events trying to rack up 236 00:13:03,000 --> 00:13:06,240 Speaker 3: some world ranking points just in case they might want 237 00:13:06,280 --> 00:13:11,840 Speaker 3: some representatives from this region. Yeah, but we were able 238 00:13:11,880 --> 00:13:15,200 Speaker 3: to get an Oceania qualifier. Almost didn't happen because we 239 00:13:15,200 --> 00:13:19,119 Speaker 3: couldn't get sponsors, which was, you know, kind of surprising. 240 00:13:19,559 --> 00:13:21,520 Speaker 3: I thought that it would be much easier to get 241 00:13:21,559 --> 00:13:24,040 Speaker 3: sponsors on board with the Olympics, but it was really 242 00:13:24,120 --> 00:13:28,240 Speaker 3: really tough. But it was like six weeks notice that 243 00:13:28,280 --> 00:13:32,480 Speaker 3: we was only going to get Oceania qualifier, and I 244 00:13:32,559 --> 00:13:35,800 Speaker 3: was going to Europe for another competition in between then. 245 00:13:36,559 --> 00:13:40,920 Speaker 3: So it was like pretty stressful, and I was working 246 00:13:40,920 --> 00:13:44,439 Speaker 3: full time as a lecturer. 247 00:13:45,960 --> 00:13:48,040 Speaker 2: WHOA, yeah, we're going to get to that, Yeah, yeah. 248 00:13:48,720 --> 00:13:54,520 Speaker 3: That so the preparation was intense. I think at that 249 00:13:54,720 --> 00:13:58,040 Speaker 3: stage I just had to look at all the moves 250 00:13:58,080 --> 00:14:00,400 Speaker 3: and combos that I had, and I went through everything 251 00:14:00,400 --> 00:14:02,960 Speaker 3: and I looked to see what was going to be 252 00:14:03,000 --> 00:14:07,920 Speaker 3: bat already and the way that the competition works. It 253 00:14:07,960 --> 00:14:12,480 Speaker 3: was over two days, and I did the preliminary round 254 00:14:12,679 --> 00:14:15,480 Speaker 3: on day one, which was the highest ranked, so I 255 00:14:15,520 --> 00:14:18,800 Speaker 3: was really pumped that I got that score there. But 256 00:14:18,880 --> 00:14:21,320 Speaker 3: then I had all the battles on the next day 257 00:14:21,640 --> 00:14:24,160 Speaker 3: and that was eight rounds I think I did. 258 00:14:24,280 --> 00:14:24,920 Speaker 2: It's a lot. 259 00:14:25,880 --> 00:14:28,960 Speaker 3: It's going to be even more at the Olympics. Yes, 260 00:14:29,240 --> 00:14:30,960 Speaker 3: it's going to be like for the people that get 261 00:14:30,960 --> 00:14:32,280 Speaker 3: to the podium, it'll be fifteen. 262 00:14:32,880 --> 00:14:36,680 Speaker 2: That's a huge amount. Yeah, So can what actually happens 263 00:14:36,720 --> 00:14:39,200 Speaker 2: in the Olympics? Can you talk us through the process 264 00:14:39,240 --> 00:14:41,440 Speaker 2: of competing in those battles? Sure? 265 00:14:42,840 --> 00:14:46,640 Speaker 4: So. The so all the women's are on one day 266 00:14:46,720 --> 00:14:48,520 Speaker 4: or the men's are on the next day, and it's 267 00:14:48,560 --> 00:14:52,120 Speaker 4: going to start with a group stage around robin, So 268 00:14:52,600 --> 00:14:55,640 Speaker 4: you battle everyone in your group, four groups of four, 269 00:14:55,840 --> 00:14:58,560 Speaker 4: and then the top two from each group go to 270 00:14:58,560 --> 00:15:01,600 Speaker 4: the knockout stage of top eight goes all the way 271 00:15:01,720 --> 00:15:06,200 Speaker 4: to the final and third place. Each battle is at 272 00:15:06,320 --> 00:15:09,920 Speaker 4: least two rounds. Okay, So particularly in the round robin 273 00:15:09,960 --> 00:15:14,080 Speaker 4: stage it's two rounds and if there's a tie, they 274 00:15:14,120 --> 00:15:17,560 Speaker 4: count judges votes. Okay, but in the knockout stage it's 275 00:15:17,600 --> 00:15:22,800 Speaker 4: all three rounds, which right like full on yeah yeah, 276 00:15:22,840 --> 00:15:26,200 Speaker 4: so each rounds like if they're not timed, they're about 277 00:15:26,200 --> 00:15:28,640 Speaker 4: forty five seconds to a minute, so it's more about 278 00:15:28,760 --> 00:15:34,760 Speaker 4: what you're doing rather than how long you're going for. Yes, so, 279 00:15:34,880 --> 00:15:38,120 Speaker 4: and they're high intensity, you know. So that's going to be. 280 00:15:37,840 --> 00:15:41,960 Speaker 3: Absolutely exhausting for those people that make it to the podium. 281 00:15:42,040 --> 00:15:45,800 Speaker 2: Yeah for sure. Yeah, and I am I right. Have 282 00:15:45,920 --> 00:15:48,240 Speaker 2: I heard that they you don't know the music? 283 00:15:48,600 --> 00:15:48,840 Speaker 3: Yeah? 284 00:15:48,920 --> 00:15:51,960 Speaker 2: No, you know, so you you come out ready to 285 00:15:52,000 --> 00:15:54,040 Speaker 2: battle and you don't know what the song's going to 286 00:15:54,080 --> 00:15:57,880 Speaker 2: be yeh, and you have to adapt through the music. Yeah. Yeah, 287 00:15:58,360 --> 00:15:59,400 Speaker 2: that's hard. 288 00:16:00,280 --> 00:16:03,720 Speaker 3: Yes, it is. It's yeah, it is hard, and it's 289 00:16:03,760 --> 00:16:06,280 Speaker 3: something that you get better at over time because all 290 00:16:06,320 --> 00:16:07,200 Speaker 3: battles are like that. 291 00:16:07,360 --> 00:16:10,680 Speaker 2: So it's okay, that's universal. It's not just Olympics. It's 292 00:16:10,720 --> 00:16:12,840 Speaker 2: part of freaking Yeah. 293 00:16:13,040 --> 00:16:16,440 Speaker 3: Yeah, I've never known what music it's going to be, and. 294 00:16:16,440 --> 00:16:19,760 Speaker 2: So you walk out there, the music starts playing and 295 00:16:19,800 --> 00:16:23,440 Speaker 2: you do your thing, and then it gets so after 296 00:16:23,520 --> 00:16:26,160 Speaker 2: say forty five seconds to a minute. How do you 297 00:16:26,160 --> 00:16:28,080 Speaker 2: do your freezes if you don't know, like or do 298 00:16:28,120 --> 00:16:31,080 Speaker 2: you know the songs that are on off? Ah, like 299 00:16:31,160 --> 00:16:32,480 Speaker 2: what I've got. 300 00:16:32,320 --> 00:16:36,080 Speaker 3: So I tinally get I love it? Okay, so let 301 00:16:36,160 --> 00:16:39,480 Speaker 3: me paint a pictures do all right, So let's pretend 302 00:16:39,520 --> 00:16:41,920 Speaker 3: we're battling. Okay, so we're on either end of the 303 00:16:42,040 --> 00:16:46,880 Speaker 3: dance floor, we're sharing the floor, and the music starts. Now, 304 00:16:47,120 --> 00:16:50,000 Speaker 3: at the Olympics, they pick who's going to go first, 305 00:16:50,680 --> 00:16:53,920 Speaker 3: because there is a bit of an advantage to going second, okay, 306 00:16:54,040 --> 00:16:57,240 Speaker 3: And often at these other non Olympic competitions, you'll have 307 00:16:57,320 --> 00:17:00,760 Speaker 3: like a standoff for like two minutes. Are going to 308 00:17:00,800 --> 00:17:01,280 Speaker 3: go first? 309 00:17:01,520 --> 00:17:02,440 Speaker 2: Okay, So they've. 310 00:17:02,240 --> 00:17:05,160 Speaker 3: Gotten so they're just saying like, in this instance, you're 311 00:17:05,200 --> 00:17:08,639 Speaker 3: going first, yep. But if I'm really feeling it, I 312 00:17:08,640 --> 00:17:12,080 Speaker 3: can go first if I want, which sometimes happens. Sometimes 313 00:17:12,080 --> 00:17:15,200 Speaker 3: people decide they want to go out first. Maybe nerves, 314 00:17:15,520 --> 00:17:17,920 Speaker 3: maybe they love the song. Yeah, maybe they've got in 315 00:17:17,960 --> 00:17:19,359 Speaker 3: their head what they want to do. They don't want 316 00:17:19,359 --> 00:17:19,920 Speaker 3: to forget it. 317 00:17:20,240 --> 00:17:23,080 Speaker 2: You know, could psych out the competitor. 318 00:17:22,680 --> 00:17:25,160 Speaker 3: Yeah, could psych out the competitor because they're so chill 319 00:17:25,200 --> 00:17:26,120 Speaker 3: they're so ready to go. 320 00:17:26,280 --> 00:17:29,960 Speaker 2: Yeah, you know, Okay, So I go out. 321 00:17:29,840 --> 00:17:34,440 Speaker 3: And do my thing about forty five seconds to a minute. Now, 322 00:17:34,520 --> 00:17:36,840 Speaker 3: even though I don't know what the song is, I 323 00:17:36,880 --> 00:17:40,280 Speaker 3: have an understanding of the musical structure of the songs. 324 00:17:40,359 --> 00:17:45,960 Speaker 3: Like I know that on every eighth or first count 325 00:17:46,000 --> 00:17:48,119 Speaker 3: there's going to be a bit of a moment, you know, 326 00:17:48,160 --> 00:17:51,240 Speaker 3: So one, two through four, five, six, seven, eight one, 327 00:17:51,400 --> 00:17:54,280 Speaker 3: So I can think to like, I hear it coming up. 328 00:17:54,320 --> 00:17:57,360 Speaker 3: I can think to hit my freeze on one of those. Yeah, 329 00:17:57,440 --> 00:18:01,280 Speaker 3: every sixteen counts there's a change. Every thirty two counts 330 00:18:01,320 --> 00:18:03,359 Speaker 3: there's a bigger change. And it's not like you're counting 331 00:18:03,400 --> 00:18:04,000 Speaker 3: in your head. 332 00:18:04,040 --> 00:18:05,440 Speaker 2: You just kind of feel it. 333 00:18:05,800 --> 00:18:08,720 Speaker 3: Yeah, you feel it because you've listened to this kind 334 00:18:08,720 --> 00:18:10,720 Speaker 3: of music for years and years and years. 335 00:18:10,880 --> 00:18:12,840 Speaker 2: That's really cool. I love that. 336 00:18:13,200 --> 00:18:18,159 Speaker 3: So when you finish, and you know you're like finish 337 00:18:18,200 --> 00:18:22,000 Speaker 3: and you always finish strong, you walk off and your 338 00:18:22,040 --> 00:18:24,960 Speaker 3: opponent comes out. Now they've already had your entire set 339 00:18:25,119 --> 00:18:27,320 Speaker 3: to listen to the song. Yes, so they've got a 340 00:18:27,400 --> 00:18:31,560 Speaker 3: much better understanding of the music or what things might 341 00:18:31,600 --> 00:18:34,200 Speaker 3: come up, all little textures that they can pick up on, 342 00:18:34,840 --> 00:18:38,119 Speaker 3: and they've seen what you've done. Yes, So there's a 343 00:18:38,200 --> 00:18:41,679 Speaker 3: huge advantage to going second because now they've got that 344 00:18:41,800 --> 00:18:46,440 Speaker 3: musicality and they can also maybe respond to what you've done. 345 00:18:46,600 --> 00:18:49,240 Speaker 3: So they've seen your headspin, but they can do a 346 00:18:49,240 --> 00:18:52,680 Speaker 3: better headspin, so they're going to bring their better headspin out. 347 00:18:53,080 --> 00:18:55,840 Speaker 3: They've seen your flares, but they've got their own flare variation. 348 00:18:56,000 --> 00:18:59,920 Speaker 3: Maybe they're going to bring that out, or they've seen 349 00:19:00,080 --> 00:19:03,520 Speaker 3: what you do and go and go one. Actually, you know, 350 00:19:04,760 --> 00:19:06,800 Speaker 3: got to ignore all that and I'm going to bring 351 00:19:06,840 --> 00:19:09,359 Speaker 3: out my own creative stuff, which I know that you 352 00:19:09,400 --> 00:19:11,800 Speaker 3: can't even do, you know. So there's a different way. 353 00:19:12,240 --> 00:19:16,520 Speaker 3: There's a different way of attacking or responding. Okay, they 354 00:19:16,560 --> 00:19:21,719 Speaker 3: finish their round. Now the judges have seconds to evaluate 355 00:19:21,760 --> 00:19:26,320 Speaker 3: fust Yeah, it's really fast. So they are now deciding 356 00:19:26,520 --> 00:19:36,200 Speaker 3: between those two dances. They're looking at five criteria, so vocabulary, execution, technique, musicality, 357 00:19:36,600 --> 00:19:40,240 Speaker 3: and originality, and they have to just decide who got 358 00:19:40,359 --> 00:19:44,520 Speaker 3: higher across that five criteria. Right, each criteria is worth 359 00:19:44,560 --> 00:19:50,320 Speaker 3: twenty percent, and then overall, you know, whoever scored higher 360 00:19:50,320 --> 00:19:53,520 Speaker 3: across the board wins that round, and then you'll see 361 00:19:53,840 --> 00:19:56,720 Speaker 3: a color flash up on the screen, but there's always 362 00:19:56,880 --> 00:20:00,119 Speaker 3: one dancer's red, the other dances blue. And so you 363 00:20:00,200 --> 00:20:03,240 Speaker 3: might see depends on what stage of the battle. It 364 00:20:03,320 --> 00:20:05,400 Speaker 3: might come up during the battle, or maybe it's only 365 00:20:05,440 --> 00:20:07,640 Speaker 3: at the end. It'll have you know, red, red, red, 366 00:20:07,720 --> 00:20:12,280 Speaker 3: blue blue. You know, however many whatever the judges votes were. Meanwhile, 367 00:20:12,800 --> 00:20:16,520 Speaker 3: I'm going back out again, off for the next round. 368 00:20:16,520 --> 00:20:20,240 Speaker 3: For the next round. Straight away, the DJ changes the music. 369 00:20:20,480 --> 00:20:22,439 Speaker 3: I'm out again, so there's no break. 370 00:20:23,000 --> 00:20:25,960 Speaker 2: Oh so okay, so you each finish your first round, 371 00:20:26,200 --> 00:20:29,480 Speaker 2: judges really quickly do that next song, you're up. 372 00:20:29,720 --> 00:20:31,960 Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean we're not even Some people don't even 373 00:20:31,960 --> 00:20:34,199 Speaker 3: wait for the judges. Some people do well, they're just 374 00:20:34,320 --> 00:20:38,679 Speaker 3: kind of like grooving. But typically you just the battle 375 00:20:38,760 --> 00:20:43,280 Speaker 3: keeps going. I love it class. It's really fast. Yeah, 376 00:20:43,320 --> 00:20:45,760 Speaker 3: it's really fast. So the judges it's just like a 377 00:20:45,840 --> 00:20:48,560 Speaker 3: sliding scale. So all they have to do is, you know, 378 00:20:49,320 --> 00:20:55,560 Speaker 3: bring bring the slider across a little bit and then 379 00:20:55,760 --> 00:21:00,760 Speaker 3: submit and yeah. But sometimes they're just yeah, it's pretty 380 00:21:00,840 --> 00:21:01,840 Speaker 3: it's pretty fast. 381 00:21:02,000 --> 00:21:03,560 Speaker 2: Yeah, it's quick. Okay, wow. 382 00:21:03,640 --> 00:21:06,360 Speaker 3: And then so you go again, same thing, and then 383 00:21:06,400 --> 00:21:08,879 Speaker 3: maybe you go there's a third round, depending on the competition, 384 00:21:09,200 --> 00:21:12,000 Speaker 3: and then they bring up all the votes and whoever's 385 00:21:12,000 --> 00:21:15,359 Speaker 3: won the most rounds has won the battle. 386 00:21:15,840 --> 00:21:18,800 Speaker 2: Okay, I like this. I'm getting my head around it. 387 00:21:18,880 --> 00:21:19,080 Speaker 3: Nice. 388 00:21:19,080 --> 00:21:19,760 Speaker 2: I'm liking it. 389 00:21:19,840 --> 00:21:20,040 Speaker 3: Nice. 390 00:21:20,080 --> 00:21:20,560 Speaker 2: Yeah, cool. 391 00:21:20,600 --> 00:21:20,800 Speaker 3: Yeah. 392 00:21:20,840 --> 00:21:24,760 Speaker 2: Okay, So you won the twenty twenty three Oceania Championship. 393 00:21:24,880 --> 00:21:28,000 Speaker 3: I did. I did so. Yeah. So my preparation for that, 394 00:21:28,119 --> 00:21:31,040 Speaker 3: I was looking at all my moves and combos and going, Okay, 395 00:21:31,080 --> 00:21:33,760 Speaker 3: what's going to be sharp, what's clean? What do I 396 00:21:33,800 --> 00:21:36,159 Speaker 3: have down? And then like put that all in a 397 00:21:36,200 --> 00:21:39,440 Speaker 3: list because one of my strengths is my range of vocab. 398 00:21:40,520 --> 00:21:43,720 Speaker 3: So I wanted to really ensure that I showed that 399 00:21:43,800 --> 00:21:47,600 Speaker 3: across the battle. One of the things that you're not 400 00:21:47,720 --> 00:21:51,879 Speaker 3: meant to do is repeat. Okay, so particularly like big 401 00:21:52,080 --> 00:21:56,600 Speaker 3: or key combos or moves. So you know, you might 402 00:21:56,640 --> 00:21:59,600 Speaker 3: see people repeat headspins, but they might have a little 403 00:21:59,680 --> 00:22:01,920 Speaker 3: very to it, so they might just you know, they 404 00:22:01,920 --> 00:22:04,479 Speaker 3: have their legs together or their legs apart, all their 405 00:22:04,520 --> 00:22:07,320 Speaker 3: hands around like this or something like that. You've got 406 00:22:07,320 --> 00:22:13,119 Speaker 3: to make it different. So, which is pretty crazy when 407 00:22:13,160 --> 00:22:15,240 Speaker 3: you think about how many rounds then you have to 408 00:22:15,320 --> 00:22:19,520 Speaker 3: do and how much movement that you need to practice 409 00:22:19,560 --> 00:22:23,639 Speaker 3: and have down. Yeah, it's a lot, so so yeah, 410 00:22:23,680 --> 00:22:29,320 Speaker 3: so I was preparing all my combos and kind of 411 00:22:29,359 --> 00:22:33,480 Speaker 3: having them, you know, up my sleeve as well as 412 00:22:33,640 --> 00:22:35,840 Speaker 3: you know, I had a few kind of practice battle 413 00:22:35,920 --> 00:22:39,400 Speaker 3: days with my crewmates and trying to like perform all 414 00:22:39,400 --> 00:22:42,800 Speaker 3: these things at intensity as well. So but it was 415 00:22:42,880 --> 00:22:45,439 Speaker 3: it was a pretty stressful event. Like it was one 416 00:22:45,440 --> 00:22:47,879 Speaker 3: of the biggest events I think we've had in Australia, 417 00:22:48,000 --> 00:22:51,720 Speaker 3: So it was an amazing experience. All the judges were international. 418 00:22:52,400 --> 00:22:55,119 Speaker 3: MC was international, but we had an Australian MC with 419 00:22:55,200 --> 00:22:58,000 Speaker 3: him as well, and DJs were international, so it was 420 00:22:58,040 --> 00:22:58,879 Speaker 3: like really huge. 421 00:22:59,280 --> 00:23:02,680 Speaker 2: Yeah, and how will you feel competing against the rest 422 00:23:02,680 --> 00:23:04,119 Speaker 2: of the world over in Paris? 423 00:23:04,440 --> 00:23:08,280 Speaker 3: Oh? Look, you know, sometimes I'm really excited and other 424 00:23:08,320 --> 00:23:12,359 Speaker 3: times I'm really nervous. Yeah, yeah, it depends what day 425 00:23:12,480 --> 00:23:16,880 Speaker 3: or what time of day is. It really fluctuates because 426 00:23:17,680 --> 00:23:20,040 Speaker 3: like to be on the stage with some of these people, 427 00:23:20,160 --> 00:23:23,480 Speaker 3: like what they can do is just absolutely amazing, and 428 00:23:23,640 --> 00:23:27,000 Speaker 3: they've got so much experience. Us ausies are definitely the 429 00:23:27,080 --> 00:23:32,200 Speaker 3: underdogs going into this, so but you know, I'm training 430 00:23:32,280 --> 00:23:34,679 Speaker 3: so hard to try and like go out there and 431 00:23:34,720 --> 00:23:35,880 Speaker 3: do my absolute best. 432 00:23:37,200 --> 00:23:39,960 Speaker 2: You touched on being a full time lecturer, you can 433 00:23:40,840 --> 00:23:44,040 Speaker 2: talk to us about the academic component of your life, 434 00:23:44,080 --> 00:23:46,280 Speaker 2: which is quite a large component. 435 00:23:46,640 --> 00:23:51,760 Speaker 3: A large component, Yeah it is. And look it's I 436 00:23:51,800 --> 00:23:54,199 Speaker 3: don't know if balance is the right word. It's like 437 00:23:54,960 --> 00:23:56,920 Speaker 3: frantic shifting. 438 00:23:57,359 --> 00:23:59,639 Speaker 2: Eating in cars, changing outfits. 439 00:24:00,200 --> 00:24:04,880 Speaker 3: Yeah, I feel like my my bag always has like 440 00:24:05,280 --> 00:24:08,320 Speaker 3: two o. My bag always has two main things. It's 441 00:24:08,359 --> 00:24:09,920 Speaker 3: like my kneepads and my laptop. 442 00:24:10,000 --> 00:24:12,320 Speaker 2: I love that. That's a good combo. 443 00:24:12,880 --> 00:24:16,680 Speaker 3: Because I need my kneepads to break. And then yeah, 444 00:24:17,080 --> 00:24:22,200 Speaker 3: just do some emails quickly, or like do some revisions 445 00:24:22,200 --> 00:24:25,119 Speaker 3: on a chapter that I submitted, or copy ited this 446 00:24:25,280 --> 00:24:28,919 Speaker 3: article I did, or moderate those grades. Like there's just 447 00:24:29,320 --> 00:24:34,960 Speaker 3: like finding snatches of time to do some work, which 448 00:24:35,000 --> 00:24:37,760 Speaker 3: is just nuts, probably not great for the stress. 449 00:24:39,560 --> 00:24:42,639 Speaker 2: Where did you find a passion for academia? 450 00:24:44,040 --> 00:24:47,520 Speaker 3: Yeah, I think so in my undergrad To be honest, 451 00:24:48,359 --> 00:24:52,600 Speaker 3: I just you know, had I didn't really know what 452 00:24:52,640 --> 00:24:55,600 Speaker 3: I wanted to do after university, and I really enjoyed 453 00:24:55,600 --> 00:24:59,320 Speaker 3: studying and I really liked what I was studying. So 454 00:24:59,760 --> 00:25:03,440 Speaker 3: in my bachelor's I was looking at like popular music 455 00:25:03,480 --> 00:25:07,400 Speaker 3: cultures and different kinds of fandoms. That's just so interesting 456 00:25:07,480 --> 00:25:11,119 Speaker 3: looking at the way that people connect with popular music, 457 00:25:11,280 --> 00:25:14,840 Speaker 3: and you know, whether it's like the nostalgia tours of 458 00:25:15,040 --> 00:25:18,640 Speaker 3: like you know, the Rolling Stones or Deep Purple whatever, 459 00:25:18,760 --> 00:25:23,800 Speaker 3: or young people creating these you know, big circles of fandom, 460 00:25:23,840 --> 00:25:26,600 Speaker 3: you know, these worlds of fandom. So I always found 461 00:25:26,600 --> 00:25:29,359 Speaker 3: that really interesting. And then yeah, I didn't know what 462 00:25:29,400 --> 00:25:32,679 Speaker 3: I wanted to do after school. I went and worked 463 00:25:32,720 --> 00:25:34,840 Speaker 3: for a bit and hated every job that I had. 464 00:25:36,320 --> 00:25:38,359 Speaker 3: I was like, I'm just going to go back to 465 00:25:38,520 --> 00:25:42,159 Speaker 3: UNI and just keep studying, and I'm just yeah, I 466 00:25:42,200 --> 00:25:44,200 Speaker 3: always really like research and writing. 467 00:25:44,400 --> 00:25:47,200 Speaker 2: So, and we've got two members of our team at 468 00:25:47,240 --> 00:25:50,280 Speaker 2: TEFAPP who have been taught by you at Macora Uni, 469 00:25:50,280 --> 00:25:53,200 Speaker 2: which I love so sting a Dom who does our socials, 470 00:25:53,200 --> 00:25:55,399 Speaker 2: and Jordan, who does some graphics for us as well. 471 00:25:55,440 --> 00:25:57,440 Speaker 3: I love it. I love it, and I remember both 472 00:25:57,440 --> 00:25:57,760 Speaker 3: of them. 473 00:25:57,960 --> 00:26:00,640 Speaker 2: But they'll be stoked. They're both because I both when 474 00:26:00,680 --> 00:26:02,439 Speaker 2: I said we were getting you on the podcast, they 475 00:26:02,440 --> 00:26:05,119 Speaker 2: both like, oh my godness, I'm so excited. Yeah, So 476 00:26:05,480 --> 00:26:06,920 Speaker 2: I think they're both going to be state that you 477 00:26:06,960 --> 00:26:10,600 Speaker 2: remember them. What is that process like going from like 478 00:26:10,600 --> 00:26:14,520 Speaker 2: obviously loving the study part but then actually imparting knowledge 479 00:26:14,560 --> 00:26:15,159 Speaker 2: to other people. 480 00:26:16,960 --> 00:26:21,399 Speaker 3: I first started tutoring, so taking you know, leading the 481 00:26:21,440 --> 00:26:24,840 Speaker 3: classes at UNI in twenty eleven, and I think my 482 00:26:24,840 --> 00:26:28,359 Speaker 3: first semester I was totally petrified, like honestly, and the 483 00:26:28,440 --> 00:26:32,760 Speaker 3: kids could sense it. Well, they smell it. You never 484 00:26:32,800 --> 00:26:36,919 Speaker 3: want them to smell that, so, you know, it was 485 00:26:36,960 --> 00:26:41,760 Speaker 3: a really like daunting process and learning how to mark 486 00:26:41,880 --> 00:26:44,160 Speaker 3: and things like that. It was. It was really intense. 487 00:26:44,320 --> 00:26:47,960 Speaker 3: And then I think I decided to just focus more 488 00:26:47,960 --> 00:26:49,520 Speaker 3: on my PhD a bit more, and then I think 489 00:26:49,520 --> 00:26:52,560 Speaker 3: I went back to tutoring in twenty thirteen, and then 490 00:26:52,560 --> 00:26:56,800 Speaker 3: I did it like every semester until I finished. And 491 00:26:56,840 --> 00:27:01,240 Speaker 3: then twenty seventeen, I started my job as a lecturer 492 00:27:01,920 --> 00:27:07,280 Speaker 3: and I started lecturing again. To begin with, like terrified, 493 00:27:08,880 --> 00:27:11,879 Speaker 3: especially because I was teaching really big first year media 494 00:27:12,000 --> 00:27:14,480 Speaker 3: units and you have like a really big lecture theater 495 00:27:15,040 --> 00:27:19,239 Speaker 3: of you know, young people, and you just kind of 496 00:27:21,359 --> 00:27:24,240 Speaker 3: hoping that you're just trying to engage them in whatever 497 00:27:24,280 --> 00:27:26,560 Speaker 3: way you can. So I always kind of felt like 498 00:27:26,560 --> 00:27:28,840 Speaker 3: a little bit of a performer at times as well, 499 00:27:28,960 --> 00:27:31,960 Speaker 3: just to try and keep them engaged and keep them connected. 500 00:27:32,480 --> 00:27:34,320 Speaker 3: But there were times where I was just like what 501 00:27:34,400 --> 00:27:36,560 Speaker 3: am I doing? You know? I'm so bad at this, 502 00:27:36,560 --> 00:27:39,359 Speaker 3: this is so boring, or you know, they're going to 503 00:27:39,480 --> 00:27:43,040 Speaker 3: know that I'm a fraud, you know, things like that. 504 00:27:43,680 --> 00:27:48,320 Speaker 3: But baptism by fire, you know, it was, it was, 505 00:27:48,640 --> 00:27:50,400 Speaker 3: you know, looking back at it was a lot of fun. 506 00:27:50,440 --> 00:27:53,440 Speaker 3: I had some really great students in particularly in those 507 00:27:53,480 --> 00:27:55,720 Speaker 3: early years. I had a lot of really fun classes 508 00:27:55,920 --> 00:27:58,320 Speaker 3: and it was really great. And you know, I've gotten 509 00:27:58,359 --> 00:28:01,879 Speaker 3: a lot more comfortable now giving like and talking to people, 510 00:28:01,960 --> 00:28:04,880 Speaker 3: talking in front of people and things like that. But yeah, 511 00:28:04,920 --> 00:28:07,520 Speaker 3: it's really great in a classroom if you can help 512 00:28:07,600 --> 00:28:14,000 Speaker 3: people either think differently about the world or see the 513 00:28:14,000 --> 00:28:17,760 Speaker 3: potential that they have. Like, those moments are just so like, 514 00:28:18,920 --> 00:28:21,760 Speaker 3: you know, precious, and they keep you going through all 515 00:28:21,760 --> 00:28:24,880 Speaker 3: the other moments where students don't want to be there, 516 00:28:25,080 --> 00:28:28,800 Speaker 3: or haven't done any prep or you know, aren't listening 517 00:28:28,800 --> 00:28:29,240 Speaker 3: to you. 518 00:28:29,320 --> 00:28:34,359 Speaker 2: So the groom components, but it is those moments are 519 00:28:34,400 --> 00:28:38,280 Speaker 2: really powerful. Yeah, and it's quite amazing as an educator 520 00:28:38,280 --> 00:28:41,640 Speaker 2: that you have the ability to kind of help people 521 00:28:41,640 --> 00:28:43,440 Speaker 2: on that journey to realize those things. 522 00:28:43,640 --> 00:28:46,400 Speaker 3: Yeah, it is. It is really great. And I always 523 00:28:46,440 --> 00:28:50,400 Speaker 3: tried to make my classrooms quite fun and try to 524 00:28:50,440 --> 00:28:53,160 Speaker 3: be quite approachable and things like that, and it's so 525 00:28:53,240 --> 00:28:55,920 Speaker 3: wonderful to hear that some of my students are, you know, 526 00:28:56,000 --> 00:28:59,040 Speaker 3: now working in the industry. And you know, I was 527 00:28:59,080 --> 00:29:00,840 Speaker 3: doing a thing at Channel the other week and I 528 00:29:00,840 --> 00:29:03,160 Speaker 3: had a couple of students contact me as well that 529 00:29:03,200 --> 00:29:05,480 Speaker 3: we're in the crowd. So you know, it's I love 530 00:29:05,520 --> 00:29:08,640 Speaker 3: hearing from past students. So it's really awesome. 531 00:29:08,800 --> 00:29:11,680 Speaker 2: That's amazing. And a number of years ago, you did 532 00:29:11,720 --> 00:29:15,160 Speaker 2: a PhD that centered around the intersection of gender and 533 00:29:15,240 --> 00:29:17,760 Speaker 2: breaking culture. Yeah, what does that look like? 534 00:29:17,800 --> 00:29:25,080 Speaker 3: What does that mean? Yeah, So when I started my PhD, 535 00:29:26,000 --> 00:29:28,160 Speaker 3: I wasn't sure exactly what it was that I was 536 00:29:28,240 --> 00:29:33,360 Speaker 3: going to investigate. Still kind of popular music, youth culture's 537 00:29:33,520 --> 00:29:36,280 Speaker 3: kind of thing. And you know, i'd been with my 538 00:29:36,360 --> 00:29:38,840 Speaker 3: partner for a few years now. He was the one 539 00:29:38,840 --> 00:29:42,240 Speaker 3: that got me into breaking because he was a breaker, right. Yeah, 540 00:29:42,240 --> 00:29:44,120 Speaker 3: So I met him when I was twenty I think 541 00:29:44,120 --> 00:29:47,200 Speaker 3: I was in my third year of my undergrad and 542 00:29:47,760 --> 00:29:50,440 Speaker 3: he got me into breaking. He encouraged me to do 543 00:29:50,520 --> 00:29:54,680 Speaker 3: it and taught me, like so much of what I know. 544 00:29:55,520 --> 00:29:59,120 Speaker 3: And he said, you know, is there any research on 545 00:29:59,240 --> 00:30:01,960 Speaker 3: breaking out there? Yeah, that's a really good question. And 546 00:30:02,000 --> 00:30:04,360 Speaker 3: I was looking into it, and there really wasn't much 547 00:30:04,440 --> 00:30:07,880 Speaker 3: at all. It wasn't even much on ouzsy hip hop 548 00:30:07,920 --> 00:30:10,840 Speaker 3: in the last couple of years, and a lot more 549 00:30:10,840 --> 00:30:13,800 Speaker 3: on wrap than there was on breaking. So I was like, 550 00:30:14,000 --> 00:30:16,160 Speaker 3: maybe I could do my PhD on this, Like that 551 00:30:16,160 --> 00:30:19,800 Speaker 3: would be wild, you know, And then it kind of 552 00:30:19,840 --> 00:30:22,400 Speaker 3: happened at the same time that I was learning breaking 553 00:30:22,480 --> 00:30:27,640 Speaker 3: and I was studying doing my PhD. So I as 554 00:30:27,680 --> 00:30:32,160 Speaker 3: I started learning breaking, like having come from a dance 555 00:30:32,240 --> 00:30:36,280 Speaker 3: background doing jazz and tap, these very much more effeminate 556 00:30:36,440 --> 00:30:40,520 Speaker 3: kind of styles of dance, I was really noticing like 557 00:30:40,640 --> 00:30:44,360 Speaker 3: significant changes to my body and way of moving as 558 00:30:44,400 --> 00:30:49,600 Speaker 3: I was learning breaking, Like breakings are very masculinized dance, 559 00:30:50,120 --> 00:30:52,800 Speaker 3: very in your face. There's a lot more kind of 560 00:30:52,880 --> 00:30:56,520 Speaker 3: feminine aspects I think to it now, but particularly you know, 561 00:30:57,160 --> 00:31:00,800 Speaker 3: twelve fifteen years ago, it was a very peticular style 562 00:31:00,840 --> 00:31:03,920 Speaker 3: of dance, in the style of moving, and so it 563 00:31:04,000 --> 00:31:07,400 Speaker 3: was really interesting noticing these changes to me and these 564 00:31:07,520 --> 00:31:11,560 Speaker 3: changes to how people were perceiving me as well, you know, 565 00:31:11,840 --> 00:31:15,960 Speaker 3: like the way that people might comment on my change 566 00:31:15,960 --> 00:31:18,080 Speaker 3: in dress or my change in the way that I 567 00:31:18,160 --> 00:31:21,800 Speaker 3: was walking, or you know, aren't you worried you're going 568 00:31:21,840 --> 00:31:24,040 Speaker 3: to get big muscles, or why don't you do something 569 00:31:24,040 --> 00:31:26,280 Speaker 3: a little bit more feminine, you know, And I just 570 00:31:26,400 --> 00:31:29,520 Speaker 3: noticed all these reactions and I thought it was a 571 00:31:29,520 --> 00:31:33,000 Speaker 3: really interesting way that people were trying to police gender. 572 00:31:34,080 --> 00:31:37,120 Speaker 3: And I also was noticing how I could do things 573 00:31:37,120 --> 00:31:40,320 Speaker 3: in breaking that I didn't think as a girl I 574 00:31:40,400 --> 00:31:43,880 Speaker 3: could do. So it just opened up all these different 575 00:31:44,000 --> 00:31:49,000 Speaker 3: questions about the possibilities of gender. And it's made even 576 00:31:49,040 --> 00:31:52,720 Speaker 3: more interesting and breaking because so many of our competitions 577 00:31:53,040 --> 00:31:59,160 Speaker 3: were mixed. They weren't girl competitions, boy competitions, they were opens. 578 00:32:00,000 --> 00:32:03,760 Speaker 3: So in an opens competition, there's so much more possibility 579 00:32:03,920 --> 00:32:08,560 Speaker 3: for you to say something or to push what people 580 00:32:08,640 --> 00:32:12,720 Speaker 3: might expect of you because you're all in the same context. 581 00:32:13,920 --> 00:32:16,920 Speaker 3: So many of my competitions I'd be battling with and 582 00:32:17,000 --> 00:32:20,160 Speaker 3: against other guys. And it was a really positive it's 583 00:32:20,200 --> 00:32:24,080 Speaker 3: a really positive force for kind of changing what people think, 584 00:32:24,200 --> 00:32:28,320 Speaker 3: particularly women can do. And you know, there was a 585 00:32:28,360 --> 00:32:32,240 Speaker 3: time like in the kind of mid twenty sixteen twenty seventeen, 586 00:32:32,640 --> 00:32:36,520 Speaker 3: it was a really exciting time for be girls around 587 00:32:36,520 --> 00:32:39,840 Speaker 3: the world because suddenly they were winning all these competitions 588 00:32:39,880 --> 00:32:42,400 Speaker 3: against the guys and like people just didn't think that 589 00:32:42,480 --> 00:32:44,880 Speaker 3: was possible, but they were winning and they were like 590 00:32:45,240 --> 00:32:48,840 Speaker 3: totally like smoking these guys, and it was so awesome 591 00:32:48,880 --> 00:32:54,640 Speaker 3: and it was so empowering to see. But then with 592 00:32:54,760 --> 00:32:59,080 Speaker 3: the Olympics kind of coming along, the competition is separated, 593 00:33:00,080 --> 00:33:05,800 Speaker 3: had way less women entering opens competitions. So it's really 594 00:33:05,880 --> 00:33:09,400 Speaker 3: interesting the way that it's both opened up female participation, 595 00:33:09,960 --> 00:33:11,600 Speaker 3: because I think it is really good to have a 596 00:33:11,640 --> 00:33:14,160 Speaker 3: platform for women to compete. It gives you a lot 597 00:33:14,160 --> 00:33:17,800 Speaker 3: more experience and confidence. But we haven't seen the same 598 00:33:18,520 --> 00:33:24,240 Speaker 3: level of women winning these big opens competitions against guys. 599 00:33:24,760 --> 00:33:27,560 Speaker 3: So it's it's an interesting space that the way that's 600 00:33:27,640 --> 00:33:29,080 Speaker 3: changed over the past few years. 601 00:33:29,160 --> 00:33:33,440 Speaker 2: But yeah, it's yeah, I find that stuff really fascinating, 602 00:33:33,440 --> 00:33:35,840 Speaker 2: And I wanted to ask you as well. Have you 603 00:33:35,880 --> 00:33:40,320 Speaker 2: found it interesting when you have this identity in what 604 00:33:40,360 --> 00:33:42,520 Speaker 2: you do in the academic space, and then people find 605 00:33:42,560 --> 00:33:44,440 Speaker 2: out that you dance on the side, and there's this like, 606 00:33:44,520 --> 00:33:48,000 Speaker 2: oh my goodness, I can't believe it, Like I imagine that's 607 00:33:48,040 --> 00:33:50,360 Speaker 2: a common thing that you kind of get from people, 608 00:33:50,960 --> 00:33:54,040 Speaker 2: But then does that also translate to that then becomes 609 00:33:54,040 --> 00:33:58,720 Speaker 2: your identity from a storytelling perspective, like this is Rachel. 610 00:33:59,080 --> 00:34:02,560 Speaker 2: She is an incredible academic, but wow, she's actually going 611 00:34:02,600 --> 00:34:04,560 Speaker 2: to the Olympics for breaking, do you know what I mean? 612 00:34:05,120 --> 00:34:07,880 Speaker 2: It kind of becomes like you have these two lives, 613 00:34:08,000 --> 00:34:10,279 Speaker 2: which is just your everyday life that you believe and 614 00:34:10,320 --> 00:34:12,600 Speaker 2: it's your passions and what you love, but it becomes 615 00:34:13,040 --> 00:34:15,840 Speaker 2: in a storytelling sense, it becomes your whole identity. 616 00:34:16,360 --> 00:34:19,680 Speaker 3: Yeah, it's becoming that. It totally and I think I'm 617 00:34:19,680 --> 00:34:23,040 Speaker 3: still kind of grappling with your way that it's becoming that. 618 00:34:23,320 --> 00:34:27,400 Speaker 3: But yeah, these these two lives that are kind of 619 00:34:27,480 --> 00:34:33,759 Speaker 3: overlapping but reshaping as I go. And yeah, I don't know, 620 00:34:33,880 --> 00:34:39,279 Speaker 3: it's it's pretty wild. I'm still coming to terms with it. 621 00:34:39,440 --> 00:34:42,960 Speaker 2: Yeah. And this year you've been doing some more research 622 00:34:43,200 --> 00:34:47,279 Speaker 2: around people's perceptions of breaking being included in the Olympics. 623 00:34:47,400 --> 00:34:51,400 Speaker 3: Yeah, I have. So I co authored an article actually 624 00:34:51,400 --> 00:34:54,240 Speaker 3: with another breaker. He did his PhD on breaking as well, 625 00:34:54,320 --> 00:34:57,879 Speaker 3: so you know, there's more of us around. And I 626 00:34:57,960 --> 00:35:03,000 Speaker 3: interviewed Australian break Is about you know, what they thought 627 00:35:03,040 --> 00:35:06,680 Speaker 3: about breakings Olympic conclusion? What were there, what did they 628 00:35:06,719 --> 00:35:08,560 Speaker 3: think you know it was good about it? What were 629 00:35:08,600 --> 00:35:11,640 Speaker 3: they concerned about it. And yeah, that article came out 630 00:35:11,640 --> 00:35:16,520 Speaker 3: this year, and it was really interesting that everyone, almost 631 00:35:16,520 --> 00:35:21,000 Speaker 3: everyone said that, like this is such a positive force 632 00:35:21,200 --> 00:35:25,279 Speaker 3: in terms of legitimizing breaking in other people's eyes. Okay, 633 00:35:25,480 --> 00:35:30,080 Speaker 3: breaking is legitimate for us, it's a legitimate athletic activity 634 00:35:30,120 --> 00:35:33,319 Speaker 3: for us, but so many people have just disregarded it, 635 00:35:33,840 --> 00:35:37,359 Speaker 3: including people's you know, close family and friends, you know, 636 00:35:37,520 --> 00:35:39,400 Speaker 3: and so that's always kind of been a little bit 637 00:35:39,440 --> 00:35:45,560 Speaker 3: hard for them, you know, to feel, you know, not 638 00:35:45,640 --> 00:35:48,520 Speaker 3: having that support and if anything, having like what are 639 00:35:48,560 --> 00:35:50,480 Speaker 3: you still doing that for? You know, what are you 640 00:35:50,560 --> 00:35:53,239 Speaker 3: wasting your time with that? And now suddenly you know, 641 00:35:53,560 --> 00:35:56,279 Speaker 3: people are being asked about their training and you know 642 00:35:56,400 --> 00:36:00,480 Speaker 3: there's there's interest and excitement and respect there, and so 643 00:36:00,520 --> 00:36:03,319 Speaker 3: that's been a huge factor. And of course, you know, 644 00:36:03,360 --> 00:36:08,440 Speaker 3: the potential opportunities for you know, doing something with breaking 645 00:36:09,200 --> 00:36:13,280 Speaker 3: in terms of work, like you know, coaching roles, hopefully 646 00:36:13,360 --> 00:36:18,160 Speaker 3: rolling out school programs, community outreach programs, just because people 647 00:36:18,239 --> 00:36:21,840 Speaker 3: know about breaking, Like you know, those so many of 648 00:36:21,880 --> 00:36:24,279 Speaker 3: those barriers were in place, those doors were shut to 649 00:36:24,360 --> 00:36:28,600 Speaker 3: us because people didn't know or understand breaking. But then 650 00:36:28,600 --> 00:36:31,040 Speaker 3: on the other hand, you know, there are definitely concerns 651 00:36:31,080 --> 00:36:37,239 Speaker 3: about you know, these kind of top down institutional approaches 652 00:36:37,520 --> 00:36:40,640 Speaker 3: and you know, the loss of agency and decision making, 653 00:36:40,719 --> 00:36:45,880 Speaker 3: and particularly in such a grassroots and accessible form as breaking, 654 00:36:46,200 --> 00:36:48,759 Speaker 3: you know, concerns that it might lose some of that. 655 00:36:49,360 --> 00:36:53,160 Speaker 2: It's really interesting, this idea of legitimacy, even in breakers 656 00:36:53,200 --> 00:36:56,719 Speaker 2: families and people that they know. Has there been pushback 657 00:36:57,000 --> 00:36:59,040 Speaker 2: from the broader public or have you found people have 658 00:36:59,120 --> 00:37:02,640 Speaker 2: been genuinely accepting and excited about the Olympics. 659 00:37:02,719 --> 00:37:06,000 Speaker 3: I think there's definitely been pushed back, Okay on the 660 00:37:06,080 --> 00:37:06,880 Speaker 3: broader public. 661 00:37:06,960 --> 00:37:07,320 Speaker 2: Okay. 662 00:37:07,800 --> 00:37:10,040 Speaker 3: I feel like my role is, like you know, with 663 00:37:10,160 --> 00:37:13,040 Speaker 3: every media interview I do, it's like hearts and minds, 664 00:37:13,080 --> 00:37:15,800 Speaker 3: Like I'm going out, They're changing hearts and minds. Because 665 00:37:16,120 --> 00:37:20,520 Speaker 3: by in large, the reaction was totally negative about breakings, 666 00:37:20,560 --> 00:37:23,920 Speaker 3: inclusion and the Olympics. Yeah, it was really sad, But 667 00:37:24,000 --> 00:37:26,200 Speaker 3: I think it really comes from a place of ignorance. 668 00:37:26,239 --> 00:37:28,600 Speaker 3: Like people when they think of breaking, they think of 669 00:37:28,640 --> 00:37:33,520 Speaker 3: some electric boogloo kind of backspin worm combination that they 670 00:37:33,560 --> 00:37:37,200 Speaker 3: did in the eighties on some cardboard, or or what 671 00:37:37,280 --> 00:37:39,520 Speaker 3: they do at the office Christmas party every year. 672 00:37:39,680 --> 00:37:42,680 Speaker 2: You know, that's a bad association. 673 00:37:42,120 --> 00:37:46,480 Speaker 3: Isn't it Like I'm yet to do a media or 674 00:37:46,520 --> 00:37:49,640 Speaker 3: like a you know, interview on TV without or on 675 00:37:49,680 --> 00:37:51,880 Speaker 3: the radio without someone mentioning the worm to me. 676 00:37:52,160 --> 00:37:56,240 Speaker 2: So, dear, that's not good. So that's that's a challenge 677 00:37:56,400 --> 00:37:59,799 Speaker 2: that they can do the worm. Probably, yes, So you know, maybe. 678 00:37:59,520 --> 00:38:02,040 Speaker 3: They could be the next maybe they could be the 679 00:38:02,160 --> 00:38:07,839 Speaker 3: next representative. Yeah, I mean, so people just don't know 680 00:38:08,120 --> 00:38:10,880 Speaker 3: about breaking, and then as soon as I explain a 681 00:38:10,880 --> 00:38:12,439 Speaker 3: little bit to them, and as soon as they see 682 00:38:12,520 --> 00:38:18,400 Speaker 3: a little bit, you know, it's it's it's a totally 683 00:38:18,400 --> 00:38:21,759 Speaker 3: different view. But yeah, I mean I don't I don't 684 00:38:21,760 --> 00:38:24,920 Speaker 3: read the comments on articles that are shared and things 685 00:38:25,000 --> 00:38:28,480 Speaker 3: like that, so but you know, they've been pretty negative, 686 00:38:28,840 --> 00:38:31,839 Speaker 3: but they've been funny negative, Like so okay, I did 687 00:38:31,880 --> 00:38:34,879 Speaker 3: read some pecause they were funny, like one said, oh, 688 00:38:35,040 --> 00:38:36,759 Speaker 3: you know, breaking the Olympics, what are they going to 689 00:38:36,800 --> 00:38:38,239 Speaker 3: have in next marbles? 690 00:38:38,760 --> 00:38:42,440 Speaker 2: Oh? 691 00:38:42,480 --> 00:38:44,600 Speaker 3: And then another one what are they going to have 692 00:38:44,680 --> 00:38:48,520 Speaker 3: in next hair dressing? I don't even understand that one. 693 00:38:48,680 --> 00:38:55,920 Speaker 3: I don't know, I don't know. Yeah, so it's wild. Yeah, yeah, 694 00:38:55,960 --> 00:38:58,880 Speaker 3: So I think I think I started out with, like, 695 00:38:59,200 --> 00:39:02,440 Speaker 3: you know, eighty five percent of the Australian public hating it, 696 00:39:02,520 --> 00:39:05,720 Speaker 3: and I think I'm getting down to like, you know, fifty. 697 00:39:06,719 --> 00:39:09,840 Speaker 2: Halfway is a good way. Halfway is good. I respect 698 00:39:09,880 --> 00:39:12,960 Speaker 2: to work there. You're on the grind, yes, yeah, well 699 00:39:12,960 --> 00:39:15,600 Speaker 2: I'm hoping the TFA audience will be completely on board. 700 00:39:15,680 --> 00:39:17,840 Speaker 3: Yeah. Thanks, we'll see, Yes, we'll. 701 00:39:17,640 --> 00:39:19,880 Speaker 2: Push them in the right direction. We'll help you out. 702 00:39:20,600 --> 00:39:22,240 Speaker 2: What is your favorite failure? 703 00:39:22,719 --> 00:39:28,440 Speaker 3: Ooh see, that's such a funny combination of words because 704 00:39:28,440 --> 00:39:33,200 Speaker 3: I don't think I necessarily associate failures with, you know, 705 00:39:33,320 --> 00:39:38,759 Speaker 3: a positive kind of experience, But totally I think there 706 00:39:38,760 --> 00:39:41,640 Speaker 3: have been some failures that have been game changes for 707 00:39:41,719 --> 00:39:44,279 Speaker 3: me and have helped get me to where I am. 708 00:39:45,080 --> 00:39:48,880 Speaker 3: So I think you was that was that twenty nineteen 709 00:39:49,040 --> 00:39:56,000 Speaker 3: or twenty eighteen, maybe twenty anyway around that time there's 710 00:39:56,040 --> 00:39:59,880 Speaker 3: a really big competition in Sydney every year called the 711 00:40:00,000 --> 00:40:03,759 Speaker 3: Destructive Steps. It's now a huge street dance festival. It's 712 00:40:03,800 --> 00:40:07,960 Speaker 3: absolutely massive, attracts all these people from around Australia and overseas. 713 00:40:08,160 --> 00:40:12,120 Speaker 3: And I think they'd only just introduced the B Girl 714 00:40:12,320 --> 00:40:15,080 Speaker 3: competition maybe the year before or something like that, and 715 00:40:15,120 --> 00:40:17,080 Speaker 3: I was like, and I didn't do very well in it. 716 00:40:17,080 --> 00:40:19,680 Speaker 3: The year before, but I don't think i'd finished my 717 00:40:19,719 --> 00:40:22,920 Speaker 3: PhD long before that, so, you know. And so I 718 00:40:22,960 --> 00:40:24,719 Speaker 3: was like, all right, yeah, I'm going to train and 719 00:40:24,760 --> 00:40:27,879 Speaker 3: I'm gonna I'm gonna win next year. And I got 720 00:40:27,880 --> 00:40:31,200 Speaker 3: all the way to the final and I lost, and 721 00:40:32,200 --> 00:40:36,320 Speaker 3: I lost to a thirteen year old Japanese girl. Well 722 00:40:37,360 --> 00:40:39,319 Speaker 3: I know, she was all the way from Japan, and 723 00:40:39,360 --> 00:40:41,879 Speaker 3: it just like, you know, here, I was how old 724 00:40:41,960 --> 00:40:44,880 Speaker 3: was at that point, thirty or something, And I was like, 725 00:40:46,160 --> 00:40:48,520 Speaker 3: what am I doing? You know, I think it was 726 00:40:48,680 --> 00:40:54,200 Speaker 3: just particularly rough and you know, and some people were like, oh, 727 00:40:54,200 --> 00:40:55,920 Speaker 3: I thought you took that, and you know this always 728 00:40:55,960 --> 00:40:56,839 Speaker 3: happens in breaking here. 729 00:40:56,840 --> 00:40:57,520 Speaker 2: I thought you took that. 730 00:40:57,840 --> 00:41:00,040 Speaker 3: Oh you know, it was close, blah blah blah. But 731 00:41:00,160 --> 00:41:02,040 Speaker 3: I was like, you know what, I just need to 732 00:41:02,040 --> 00:41:04,520 Speaker 3: get better, Like I just need it to be clearer 733 00:41:04,719 --> 00:41:07,600 Speaker 3: that I won. I need there to be no doubt 734 00:41:08,320 --> 00:41:11,560 Speaker 3: that I win, and I just need to dominate. And 735 00:41:11,600 --> 00:41:15,520 Speaker 3: so that started the journey of trying to dominate in 736 00:41:15,600 --> 00:41:20,759 Speaker 3: Australia and really train hard and be number one. 737 00:41:21,200 --> 00:41:23,839 Speaker 2: I love that. It's really cool. I love and I 738 00:41:23,880 --> 00:41:27,280 Speaker 2: also love that language. I think it's really cool hearing 739 00:41:27,320 --> 00:41:30,879 Speaker 2: athletes be really clear about that. I think sometimes when 740 00:41:30,920 --> 00:41:33,680 Speaker 2: you interview athletes and you see like postmatch interviews and 741 00:41:33,719 --> 00:41:36,880 Speaker 2: things like that, there's this real sense of humility and 742 00:41:36,920 --> 00:41:39,359 Speaker 2: people not necessarily being straight up. But I love that, 743 00:41:39,440 --> 00:41:42,000 Speaker 2: like really clear language of like I need to dominate 744 00:41:42,080 --> 00:41:43,160 Speaker 2: and show that I'm the best. 745 00:41:43,520 --> 00:41:47,040 Speaker 3: Yeah, and it took me years. I entered that battle 746 00:41:47,520 --> 00:41:51,040 Speaker 3: every year and I only won it last year. Wow. 747 00:41:51,160 --> 00:41:53,200 Speaker 3: So it was like five years later or something that 748 00:41:53,280 --> 00:41:55,520 Speaker 3: I finally want it. Because you often have like an 749 00:41:55,520 --> 00:41:58,799 Speaker 3: international guest or someone come over, it's not just Australians. 750 00:41:58,840 --> 00:42:01,880 Speaker 3: So I was like, yes, you did it. 751 00:42:01,960 --> 00:42:04,319 Speaker 2: That would have felt really nice. It was really good. 752 00:42:04,400 --> 00:42:07,080 Speaker 3: Yeah. That was not long before Osciani as well, so 753 00:42:07,120 --> 00:42:08,520 Speaker 3: I was like, yes, I can do this. 754 00:42:08,719 --> 00:42:12,319 Speaker 2: That's awesome. Congratulations, Thank you, Thank you so much for 755 00:42:12,360 --> 00:42:15,160 Speaker 2: your time today. It's been amazing to sit down and 756 00:42:15,239 --> 00:42:18,360 Speaker 2: chat and learn more about what you do. I cannot 757 00:42:18,360 --> 00:42:20,319 Speaker 2: wait to watch the August ninth is. 758 00:42:20,320 --> 00:42:22,799 Speaker 3: Me Yes, and then you can watch Jay attack on 759 00:42:22,840 --> 00:42:23,640 Speaker 3: August tenth. 760 00:42:23,680 --> 00:42:25,879 Speaker 2: How good. You cannot wait to tune in and best 761 00:42:25,920 --> 00:42:29,720 Speaker 2: of luck. Thank you so much, thanks so much for listening. 762 00:42:30,040 --> 00:42:32,080 Speaker 2: If you got something out of this episode, I would 763 00:42:32,120 --> 00:42:34,200 Speaker 2: absolutely love it if you could send it on to 764 00:42:34,280 --> 00:42:38,279 Speaker 2: one person who you think might enjoy it. Otherwise, subscribe, 765 00:42:38,440 --> 00:42:40,360 Speaker 2: give us a review, and make sure you follow us 766 00:42:40,400 --> 00:42:43,200 Speaker 2: on Instagram at the Female Athlete Project to stay up 767 00:42:43,239 --> 00:42:46,440 Speaker 2: to date with podcast episodes, merch drops, and of course, 768 00:42:46,920 --> 00:42:49,600 Speaker 2: news and stories about epic female athletes