Ballet Gets Brutal

Consider what surfing would look like with no board. 

Does an inverted body spin in your mind’s eye — not that far off an Anna Pavlov pirouette? We suspect our friends at Ballet Grip Co. derived their name from the parallels between these phenomena. 

Jamie Krups, Ballet co-founder, asked us to look over their newest creation and get the word out there if we were so inclined (and if we liked what we saw). Not so much an #ad as a favor for a person we admire with a brand whose aesthetic we appreciate.

We did, so here goes nothing. 

Yes, all traction pads occupy the same function — keeping our 10 toes adhered to our surfing utensil. But they also provide us who flock together in our neoprene leotards with a rare chance for self-expression. As surf nerds, we like that kind of stuff. 

Ballet’s latest release is the CONCRETE two-piece pad. It’s inspired by the 1950s/1960s architectural trend known as Brutalist Architecture which is characterized by the use of steel and concrete in massive blocks. You can shop the latest drop and more here.

Ballet is also assembling quite the army with long-time icons like Brad Gerlach and Nathan Webster and young guns like Kalani Ball, Letty Mortensen, Ainara Aymat, Lee Wilson, Connor Lee, Tom Morat, Nick Melanson, Kobe Hughes, and Noah Collins joining the fray. 

A full-length surf film from Ballet will be released early next year.