Wahine Surfers
The art and sport of surfing
Today there are many highly enthusiastic and talented, even driven, wahine surfers. The nose-riding longboarders of Waikiki and Waianae and Chun’s are growing in ranks and dance up and down their floating stages in a waterborne ballet, a graceful hula. There are also the highly physical, explosive, daring wahine on short boards and fast waves, thrashing out a hula all their own. They charge hard and take on challenging waves, and express a connection to the sea and waves that is at the same time technical and graceful, aggressive and feminine, bold and playful. In such a male dominated sport, the women participants necessarily stand out. Their numbers are fewer but their zeal equals the men turn for turn. Of course, women are now being welcomed to contest the massive surf of Waimea and Peahi, and acquitting themselves wonderfully, but there is joy on a smaller, more intimate scale on the fast, head-high waves of the North Shore on Oahu that so naturally allows expressive surfing, not the death defying risk taking of challenging monsters, but a dance upon the face of a wave; balance, grace, movement – hula.