The 'systems of relay' in doing cultural studies: Experimenting with the Body without Organs in b-girling practice

In this article, I highlight the system of relays between Deleuze and Guattaris (2010) Body without Organs (BwO), the gender politics of Sydney's breakdancing scene that regulate what a body can do, and my own breakdancing (b-girling) practice. The BwO is not a static notion, but both a practice [and] a set of practices through which the body de-stratifies from the prevailing order of domination -such as gender -And refills with intensities that cannot be reduced to the generality of representation. This critical approach invites researchers to experiment with the bodys affective capacities, and exposes breakdancing as a salient site to increase the regulated repertoire of bodily expression. My practical action as a b-girl, then, deploys a new methodology to both negotiate the gendered assumptions of the scene and locate possible lines of social transformation.