Technique, vocabulary, execution, musicality and originality.

These are the five criteria breakers were judged on at the Olympics.

But when self-expression is a central part of breaking, should it be judged in a major international sporting event?

Marlon Sangalang, a breaker from Melbourne, says yes.

"Breaking is a culture and an art form that also has a competitive side to it," Marlon tells the ABC.

"When breaking made its debut in the Olympics, it highlighted that competitive side."

The 35-year-old is the director of BKODE Dance Studio in Melbourne's west and has been breaking since 2004.

He watched intently as Australian Rachael "Raygun" Gunn took centre stage in Paris.

And he was much more favourable than a lot of the commentary that has flooded the internet over the last week.

"Her opponents were just incredibly athletic, but I believe her musicality and creativity was on par with theirs."

Raygun didn't win a round or get any votes from the judges in her three battles at the Games.

But Marlon says her "musicality was great" and gives her "props for showing character and giving it her all".

"I made sure our breaking class at my dance studio incorporated the 'kangaroo' move in their battles as a tribute to Raygun."

'Much more than one-dimensional gymnastics moves'

Tim Lee, a Taiwanese breakdancing teacher also from Melbourne, says breaking is often narrowly defined within the walls of "big moves", such as flares and head spins.

"But it's much more than making one-dimensional gymnastics moves," he says.

"If we go back to the earlier times, breaking was predominantly focused on top rocks — more elements entered breaking as time passed."

Top rocks are foot movements performed while standing.

Tim says he fell in love with breaking while he was at school and it has taught him to be "fearless and express himself confidently".

Raygun spoke after her performance and said she wanted to bring a unique style of dance to the competition.

"I was never going to beat these girls on what they do best, the dynamic and the power moves," she said.

"So, I wanted to move differently, be artistic and creative because how many chances do you get in a lifetime to do that on an international stage."

Back to basics

But some say what they saw from Raygun lacked even the basics.

"I don't deny that she's got personal styles, but I don't think she has the 'vocabulary' of the dance," B-boy Cookie, a 29-year-old breakdancer from China, tells the ABC.

Cookie says he's not saying a performance needs to be full of power moves – the actions that rely on speed, momentum, and acrobatics, like continuous spinning or balancing on one's head or elbows.

"But creativity and self-expressions have to be based on a basic structure of the specific dance genre," he says.

Despite Raygun getting little acknowledgement from the judges for her creativity, Cookie says he believes the judges were on the lookout for it.

"I feel like the Olympics scoring system prioritised originality over technical skills," he says.

"Dancers who did a large amount of difficult power moves, such as Hiro10, cannot beat those with simpler moves but are better at musicality and originality."

Hiro10, a B-boy representing Japan, lost all of his rounds even though he executed highly technical power moves.

Misunderstanding around Raygun's scoring

Tim Lee says there has been a lot of misunderstanding about Raygun's scores at the Olympics.

"It is not the case that Raygun has scored a sorrowing zero points in these matches."

Judges (there are nine) use a digital slider to score battles, which shifts in real time toward the breaker who is outperforming their opponent in each category.

And Raygun did in fact beat her opposition on originality and vocabulary in some of the rounds, according to some of the judges.

But not enough to actually win her any overall votes.

Marlon, the breaker from the west of Melbourne, says it would be worth considering a scoring system like gymnastics so competitors wouldn't "leave the competition with a zero."

In gymnastics, each athlete gets a score for both difficulty and execution.

"A point-based system could provide a more balanced evaluation, ensuring that every participant's effort is recognised and scored, rather than leaving some with nothing to show."

'Anyone can dance'

Away from the breaking community, other dancers are standing in solidarity with Raygun.

Mihika Samaratunga, a 23-year-old choreographer from Brisbane, says Raygun's performance was "true to what she stands for".

Mihika, who has been dancing since she was three, believes this is what dance, "especially street dance styles such as breakdancing, really is [about]".

But she acknowledges there were other athletes who better met the criteria.

"[This] does not define" Raygun's performance, Mihika says.

"It only shows how it was classified in the marking criteria the judges had to score on."

Mihika encourages people to look at dance in a similar way to artworks.

"If they all looked the same, we would have no reason to have art galleries to showcase the beautiful, unique styles," she says.

She says dance is particularly unique because it's "one of the only few art styles where the vessel to create is just your body".

"That makes it so special that anyone can dance."