ballet and surfing – 2 – the layback backhand pig-dog
The layback backhand pigdog.
^ Generally speaking an unattractive and obscure word picture, particularly to one who does not have a great depth of knowledge with regard to surfing matters. That is to say about 99,999 out of every 1o0,0oo people on earth.
Rough spoken history has it that Simon Anderson was responsible for the genus of this particular function, and as a matter of fact I approached him once in a banking queue in Manly Vale, me with my $200 and him with his four and sixpence – and I asked him cordially how he was. Needless to say he ignored both myself and my greeting – Fame is such a waste when it is visited on those who are unreceptive of its benefits.
– to continue ..
We all know the immortal pronouncement ‘ Only A Surfer Knows The Feeling ‘ – and it is surely within our collective power to match a competitive manoeuvre with this inspiring sentiment.
< – – – This chap here on the left, the dancing chappie, has what we feel to be a better look for the Layback pigdog etc etc .. he has an evocation of the moment, an entrancement, a self-induced wonder of the instant.
He is very obviously having a superior feeling about this particular .. erh .. avant.. brise ..degage .. arrierre..epaulement move .. .. .. .
There is a delicacy here that would not look out of place at 10′ Pipe, particulaly the upthrust trailing arm which effectively simulates the manual stall method used by so many in this position. The left arm is shielding his face (and hair, another plus there) from the barrel’s compression blast and although we would have liked him to have maintained his feet there is much to admire here in the flowing consciousness of his overall position. This is an exciting look, an indication of how grace and flair might succeed where power and momentum have gone before. Brutal attack gives away to ‘The Phantom Song of The Wave.’
Imagine Johnny Boy Gomes wrenching off this stunt in 1997 ..
< – – – JBG is carrying a little avoirdupois lately but even so we can see a connection between the two pics – solid concentration, quality weight distribution, an eye for colour matching and not a lot of nonsense in the manoeuvre – bring the leading hand over his head, add a little flop to his trailing wrist and we have a synchronicity, an almost feminine deftness common to both images.
We have approached Johnny Boy for comment and at present are waiting for our Hawaiian correspondent to regain consciousness and tell us what he remembered JBG saying before the unfortunate incident. The delicate removal of the Olympus PEN – E P3 digital camera from his person is scheduled for surgery tonight US time.
Our thoughts are with his family.
Needless to add that the French have already moved in this direction and industry word is strong that in the next competitive season we will see the first of the ‘ jeter du revers de chien de porc de retour ‘ on tour.
The tights are optional, apparently, which is a bit of a pity.
– background music, play at leisure .. ..
ballet and surfing part 1 here
petebowes.com 
TALK WITH Mickey Munos a USA surfer.Ask him about El Quasimoto.Leaves Johnny Boy,hands down..Say hello to Mickey for me..Scott Dillon
will do mate
How come you don’t have any sharing buttons? I went to “Stumble” this and I couldn’t!!
can’t figure out how to do it –
Dashboard, Sharing and then follow your nose 🙂
Please extend my best wishes for the surgery PB, what a shame that investigative journalism has become so dangerous without proper security.
And the photo comparison was spot on man, almost like the same image.
I’m on a roll here Mike, might do a number on Rabbit Kekai next – or John Travolta
You are now duly Stumbled! LOL
thanks team – now it’s world domination right?
You are definitely onto something there Pete. Just don’t let Graeme Murphy catch on lest he does to surfing what he did to contemporary dance.
I googled him, but all I got was a serious guy with no hair sitting in a chair – being an old dancer is like being an old surfer – if you aren’t doing it then you aren’t one –
Pete, I just sent you a picture of him via email. I’m probably being a little harsh. But during his 20 or 30 years or whatever that he spent at the helm of the Sydney Dance Company, he turned anything you could name into ballet and it all started to merge after awhile. If he’d had your nous, ‘Surf’ would’ve been on at the Opera House too.
three words k – ‘sir robert helpmann’ –
Graeme Murphy’s work = swoon!!!
I still remember the first ballet I ever went to was ‘Vast’. Even as a child, I found it incredibly moving.
Although I know pete is playing around here, I really like this post because I have long found connections between surfing and the other main physical activities I like to do – dance and hapkido in particular. For me, the physical and movement connections with dance have always been obvious from a ‘doing’ perspective, especially in relation to balance, flow and strength. But when I previously practised hapkido (sadly, I can no longer… for now!), I actually my experiences of found the movements entirely blending into each other surfing and hapkido were one and the same thing!
Weird, and probably irrelevant to pete’s piss-take here, but it’s Sunday and I’m procrastinating with fond city-bound memories of the dojan and the ocean.
Becc brings up something interesting…
I like yoga when the segues are considered as important as the poses… and when done fluidly, they become dance.
What we perceive as good surfing also enjoys the dance analogy. Linking turns with as little recovery as possible. Fluid mastery.
Like surfing without a leash and being present in every moment… with a consequence.
I think anything done well is dance.