Ah, who can resist the enchanting call of a mermaid… but could it be true that life is indeed better, down where it’s wetter, under the sea?

PLAY!

Weren’t we all totally obsessed with mermaids after watching the 1984 hit ‘Splash’,
starring Daryl Hannah as one of the most gorgeous and enchanting mermaids ever?

Here’s a lovely clip of the movie:

Mermaids have been – and continue to be – the inspiration for countless of the
most amazing productions, from sexy lingerie ads like the sultry Spring/Summer
2009 collection of Agent Provocateur…

… to featuring in the latest sequel of ‘Pirates Of The Caribbean: On Stranger Tides’.

But it isn’t just the big and the small screen that loves them, so is the theatre,
check out the Broadway version of ‘The Little Mermaid’…

… and of course, there are plenty of mermaids down in the wonderful
world of Burlesque! Here are some of my favourite Burlesque Mermaids:

-Peachey Dream makes a really cute Disney/Pin-up style Burlesque mermaid:
(Cute props included)

-Best mermaid prop to pull out of the treasure chest goes to Selia d’Katzmeow’s
‘Mermaid’n Burlesque’:

-Best singing Burlesque mermaid is definitely Christa D’Agger’s ‘Lil’ Mermaid’:
(Hilarious “Merman” included!)

-Bella Donna, a Cape Town burlesque artist performs the most
beautiful mermaid trapeze burlesque act: (A-MAZING!)

But the burlesque mermaid crown goes definitely to the fabulous Julie Atlas
Muz, who with her incredible mermaid performances has wowed many audiences,
blurring the lines between art, performance and burlesque.

Back in 2005 performing as ‘Julie La Sirena’, she swam alongside 450 fish, 2 sharks
and 1 eel in Europe’s largest saltwater aquarium, El Mar Rojo. She graced the sides
of buses and buildings as the mermaid cover girl of the 2005 Valencia Bienal in Spain
and she reigned as head mermaid at ‘The Coral Room’; a NYC nightclub that boasted
a 9,000 gallon saltwater water aquarium with live fish!

Here is an extract from an interview where Julie talks about performing as a mermaid:

-For the folks more at home in flyover states than in semi-debaucherous NYC, please describe why performing as a mermaid in a 9,000 gallon aquarium for drunk investment bankers is better than performing as a waitress at a Hooters, serving wings and family-oriented sass.
As a mermaid I am isolated in my magical underwater world. I don’t see the investment bankers and drunkies. I leave the grounded world and submerge myself in my own dreams.

-Does the art of underwater dancing require any special training? Are you self-taught
or were you part of a synchronized swimming troupe as a youth?
I am self-taught. Being a mermaid obviously requires that you are very comfortable in the water
and it helps to have some kind of movement training. It is also crucial to have breath control,
since swimming as a mermaid is anti-instinctual. (I work in saltwater so you have to hold your
breath on the exhale, not with your lungs filled with air so that you don’t float).

-The New York Times has called you “the bemused blond of downtown performance art” and you recently participated in the 2004 Whitney Biennial which means your appeal is not relegated to below 14th Street. Do you have any inspirational role models such as: Amphitrite (the sea-goddess wife of Poseidon), Daryl Hannah (who played a mermaid from the depths of the Hudson River), or Courtney Love (a lost soul drowning in her experimental art piece called “life”)?
Role Models huh? Well to be honest I often think of Sigourney Weaver in Aliens 4 in the underwater swimming scene. I really like her swimming technique, not to mention the fact she’s so both the beauty and the beast.

Click here to watch Julie Atlas Muz in: ‘High Art At Low Tide’

If you are a fan of Burlesque and of life ‘under da sea’ too, come over to the Wam Bam Club! You will love our house special of: ‘Giant clamshell, served with some fresh buff boys on the side’.

Order yours here!
xoxo
Nonita

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