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Mermaiding (also referred to as artistic mermaiding, mermaidry, or artistic mermaid performance) is the practice of wearing, and often swimming in, a costume mermaid tail.
In the beginning of the twentieth century mermaiding was sometimes referred to as water ballet, but it is not currently a term that is commonly used. Mermaiding should not be confused with modern synchronized swimming, although there can be some overlap if a mermaid performance troupe is performing a synchronized routine.
It is difficult to determine exactly where the term "mermaiding" was coined; but some of the first professional freelance mermaids appeared on the world scene around 2004, Hannah Fraser, Mahina Mermaid, and Mermaid Linden, who were all playing with the term. A little later on, the term was brought to a wider use and community by Iona the Mermaid, co-founder of MerNetwork.com. Newer professional mermaids like the famous Mermaid Elle have made mermaiding more popular and mainstream by performing at celebrity events and featured on TV, music videos and magazines.
Mermaiding is both a profession and a hobby. Professional mermaids will often swim in live, filmed, or photographed productions or shows and can be hired for special events. Nonprofessional enthusiasts swim in tails at their local pools if the pool allows it, lakes, rivers, and seashores, or take part in mermaid-themed photo shoots, birthday parties, or mermaid meetings with other Mers. Mermaiding is popular with all ages and genders. Mermaiding practitioners are sometimes called mermaids, professional mermaids, or occasionally, water ballerinas. Within the community, mermaid or merfolk can be shortened to " mer". Mermaiding is often seen as a form of extreme cosplay due to the nature of crafting the tails and other prosthetics used by practitioners. There are several tail-making companies supplying the community with everything from fabric tails to full SFX prostheses costing thousands of dollars.
In June–July 1903 Kellermann performed sensational high dives in the Coogee scene of Bland Holt's spectacular, The Breaking of the Drought, at the Melbourne Theatre Royal. She is often credited with inventing the sport of synchronized swimming after her 1917 performance of a water ballet in a glass tank at the New York Hippodrome. She has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. The majority of Kellerman's films had themes of aquatic adventure. She performed her own stunts including diving from ninety-two feet into the sea and sixty feet into a pool of crocodiles. Many times she would play mermaids named Annette or variations of her own name. Her "fairy tale films", as she called them, started with The Mermaid (1911), in which she was the first actress to wear a swimmable mermaid costume on film. She designed her own mermaid swimming costumes and sometimes made them herself. Similar designs are still used by The Weeki Wachee Springs Mermaids, including her aquatic fairy costume first introduced in Queen of the Sea (1918).
Williams caught the attention of MGM scouts at the Aquacade. After appearing in several small roles, alongside Mickey Rooney in an Andy Hardy film, and future five-time co-star Van Johnson in A Guy Named Joe, Williams made a series of films in the 1940s and early 1950s known as "aquamusicals", which featured elaborate performances with synchronized swimming and diving. In 1952, Williams appeared in her only biographical role, as Australian swimming star Annette Kellerman in Million Dollar Mermaid, which went on to become her nickname while at MGM. Williams left MGM in 1956 and appeared in a handful of unsuccessful feature films, followed by several extremely popular water-themed television specials, including one from Cypress Gardens, Florida.
Many of her MGM films, such as Million Dollar Mermaid and Jupiter's Darling, contained elaborately staged synchronized swimming scenes, with considerable risk to Williams. She broke her neck filming a 115 ft dive off a tower during a climactic musical number for the film Million Dollar Mermaid and was in a body cast for seven months. She subsequently recovered, although she continued to suffer headaches as a result of the accident. Her many hours spent submerged in a studio tank resulted in ruptured numerous times. She also nearly drowned after not being able to find the trap door in the ceiling of a tank. The walls and ceiling were painted black and the trap door blended in. Williams was pulled out only because a member of the crew realized the door was not opening.
In 2008, Weeki Wachee Springs was incorporated into the State of Florida Park system.
Million Dollar Mermaid (also known as The One Piece Bathing Suit in the UK) is a 1952 Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer biographical musical film of the life of Australian swimming star Annette Kellerman, played by Esther Williams. It was directed by Mervyn LeRoy and produced by Arthur Hornblow Jr. from a screenplay by Everett Freeman. The music score was by Adolph Deutsch, the cinematography by George J. Folsey and the choreography by Busby Berkeley. "Million Dollar Mermaid" not only became Esther Williams' nickname around Hollywood, but it became the title of her autobiography (New York: Simon & Schuster, 1999), co-written with Digby Diehl. Williams has often called this her favorite film.The Million Dollar Mermaid: An Autobiography, By Esther Williams, Digby Diehl, Published by Harcourt Trade, 2000, ,
Cinema
Splash (1984): starring Daryl Hannah and Tom Hanks, Hannah played a mermaid who falls in love with a human. She could walk on dry land in human form, but her legs changed into a fish tail whenever she got wet. Much of the movie revolves around her humorous attempts to conceal her true identity from her lover. A made-for-television sequel, Splash, Too, Splash, Too (1988) (TV) followed in 1988, starring Amy Yasbeck and Todd Waring. Immensely popular, the film precipitated a surge in popularity of mermaids in general and mermaiding in particular, as it inspired many people to buy tails and get into the water.
Daryl Hannah's mermaid tail was designed and created by Academy Award-winning visual effects artist Robert Short. The tail was fully functional. Hannah swam with the mermaid tail so fast that her safety team could not keep pace with her. According to the DVD documentary, Hannah had been swimming "mermaid" style with her legs bound together since she was a child, due to her fascination with Hans Christian Andersen's "The Little Mermaid" story. However, by the standards of swimmable mermaid tails, the exceptionally detailed film tail was difficult to remove. For the sake of efficiency, Hannah at first kept it on while the cast had lunch. In the documentary contained on the 20th-anniversary Splash! DVD, Tom Hanks recalled how the other cast members would drop French fries over the side of the tank to her as though she were a trained sea mammal, for she could not leave the water while her legs were "shrink-wrapped".
Mermaid Got Married (1994): this Hong Kong romantic-comedy tells the story of a school teacher who falls in love with a mermaid who'd rescued him as a young boy. The film stars Asian cinema idols Ekin Cheng, Christy Chung, and Takeshi Kaneshiro. The film is loosely based on Splash.
The Thirteenth Year (1999): a teen learns that his birth mother is a mermaid after he begins to grow fins and slimy scales on his thirteenth birthday.
Mermaids (2003): this 2003 television film was directed by Ian Barry and stars Serah D'Laine, Nikita Ager and Australian model Erika Heynatz as a trio of mermaid sisters who band together to avenge their father's death. The film is also known in other languages as Sereias (Brazil), Três Sereias (Portugal), Mermaids – Las sirenas (Spain), Oi treis gorgones (Greece), Seireenisiskokset (Finland), Sirènes (France), and Sirenas (Argentina). Some of the tails used in the production have been sold to professional mermaids.
Aquamarine (2006): the title character is a mermaid (Sara Paxton) who is washed ashore after a violent storm. She decides to search for true love on land, and makes two good friends (Joanna "JoJo" Levesque and Emma Roberts) along the way. The film, loosely based on a children's book of the same name by Alice Hoffman, and directed by American director Elizabeth Allen, was filmed in Queensland, Australia. There were three different tails used in the production, including an animatronic model that was operated remotely. At least one of the others was a fully swimmable tail worn by the actress.
(2011): during his search for the Fountain of Youth, Jack Sparrow encounters several mermaids. This film is included in this list because, like Splash, it accounted for an increase in mermaid popularity upon its release, and includes a central mermaid character. However, no actual tails were used during filming; they were added during the editing process with CGI. On Stranger Tides employed 1,112 shots of computer-generated imagery, which were done by ten visual effects companies. Cinesite visual effects supervisor Simon Stanley-Clamp claimed that the most difficult part was doing the effects in 3D: "Rotoscoping is tricky. Cleaning up plates is double the work, and Match moving has to be spot on." The lead companies, with over 300 effects each, were Industrial Light & Magic—responsible for, among others, the mermaids and most water effects—and Moving Picture Company, who created digital ships and environment extensions, such as changing weather and designing cliffs and waterfalls. Filming the mermaids involved eight model-actresses, who portrayed them outside the water, as well as 22 synchronized swimming athletes and a group of stuntwomen, both of whom wore motion capture suits to be later replaced by digital mermaids. Mermaid corpses were depicted by plaster models. The design tried to avoid the traditional representations of mermaids in paintings and literature, instead going for a scaly body with a translucent membrane inspired by both jellyfish and the fabric employed in . To make the mermaids more menacing underwater, the faces of the actresses had some digital touch-ups on the underwater scenes, adding sharper teeth and a shimmery fish scale quality on the skin.
(2006): this TV series involves three teenage girls who, after encountering a mysterious island grotto, transform into mermaids whenever water touches any part of their bodies. A spin-off series, , was released on 26 July 2013. Three different types of mermaid tails are used on the show: custom-fitted tails that the girls swim in, a "floppy tail" used for stationary shots, and a "hard tail" for stunts. The custom costumes took six months to build, with the tails and tops made from body casts and comprising individually hand-crafted scales. The finished product weighs between . Inside the tail are leg straps where the girls are strapped up and then zipped up. Once in costume, the girls have to be lifted into the water. Attempts were made to minimise the on-screen visibility of the zips on the tails, such as adding extra scales and crafting a ridge of material around the length of the zip. The tail fin itself was designed with a foot pedal to assist the actresses with swimming. This, along with the fin, adds some to the length of the costume.
In May 2023, Netflix released a documentary series titled MerPeople, which depicted the experiences of mermaids in the United States, some historically prominent and some still gaining traction in the community. The series mostly focused on the Eric Ducharme, the The Blixunami, Mermaid Sparkles, Morgana Alba, Chè Monique, and the Red River Merman. The miniseries covered the mermaids' personal lives, careers as performers, and participation in Virgin Voyages' King and Queen of the Sea pageant.
Dyesebel is a mermaid character based on graphic novelist Mars Ravelo's creation in GMA Network in the Philippines. The story was adapted into five films and a spin-off between 1953 and 1996. Mars Ravelo Tripod marsravelodarna.tripod.com
In many countries, people can now join mermaid swimming classes, where they learn how to swim in mermaid tails. The Mermaid Kat Academy Mermaid Kat Academy Australia was the world's first mermaid school that made mermaiding accessible to everyone and opened in August 2012. Shortly after that the Philippine Mermaid Swimming Academy Hot Spots Philippine Mermaid Swimming Academy and several other mermaid schools opened around the world.
As common in small subcultures like mermaiding, getting connected with other mermaids has not been organized and mostly depended on getting to know the right people or being part of countless different Facebook groups. A state that makes it difficult to enter the mermaiding world as a newcomer and truly live out this passion.
The first platform trying to provide one central space for mermaids to connect online is "The MerNetwork" - however, due to problems that come along with forums (particularly bot activity and forums itself being limited to what they can offer in terms of community management and engagement), this is no longer being actively used by the majority of mermaids.
In 2022, the platform "MerMapp" has provided an alternative: It seeks to be the one-stop-shop for mermaiding across the globe, connecting everything and everyone related to mermaiding in one modern platform that you can use both from the web, as well as via an app on Android and iOS.
A feature that is especially helpful to connect the community is a map - the "MerLocator" - on which every person registering on the platform is marked, making it easy for people to find and connect with each other. Similarly, this map shows "mer-friendly" pools and swimming locations. This is relevant, as swimming in your mermaid tail is not allowed in all swimming locations. Many public swimming pools for example need to be first consulted whether you can bring your mermaid tail with you or strictly don't allow it due to safety concerns. Initiatives to make mermaiding an officially accepted sport will help in solving these problems.
Lastly, MerMapp also serves as a service exchange hub - where professionals working in the mermaiding or mermaiding adjacent fields (e.g. under water photographers / videographers, performance coaches, tail and jewelry designers, freediving trainers, etc.) or looking for a career opportunity, can easily network and find each other and get found.
Monofins are carefully chosen when a tail is commissioned, taking into account the swimmer's ability, location of use, and desired look in the water. For instance, a large, stiff fiberglass monofin will serve a mermaid well in strong ocean currents, giving them speed and strength in the water. A mermaid who will be performing in a glass tank may choose a smaller, more flexible, plastic model, which imparts agility and graceful flow rather than strong propulsion. Some mermaids prefer to sand, cut, or otherwise alter their monofins into a preferred shape to suit their individual purposes; others prefer to create their monofins from scratch rather than purchase or alter an already existing model.
For safety reasons, it is recommended that beginners not create their own monofins from scratch. Some materials that have been used in monofins, such as acrylic or plexiglas, have shattered under hydraulic stress and have caused severe injury and could result in drowning. Plastic polycarbonate is also not recommended, as it will crack and snap under pressure, rendering the monofin useless and dangerous.
The bans did not come without criticism. Some contended that it would be better to emphasize safety and supervision while using the tails, rather than banning them outright. A few others suggested that having mermaiders pass swim tests would also be a viable alternative to bans.
Mermaids also incur various health risks while immersed in water. Without , mermaids fully expose their ears to water, subjecting them to ear pain and infection. The water they swim in may also contain bacteria that subjects them to waterborne illnesses and infections. Other potential minor health issues that mermaids can experience include foot blisters that occur as their tightly packed feet rub against the insides of the tail costume, muscle cramps in the legs from strenuous swimming movements in the tail costume, red eyes caused by continual exposure to chlorine in swimming pool water, along with cold and flu-like symptoms and minor respiratory problems induced from being in cold water. Mermaids who wear latex tin-cure tails are also subject to several toxic health effects that the chemicals of such material impart (see above).
Mermaids who swim in the open ocean can have their safety jeopardized if they get too close to particular sea animals. For instance, a mermaid who gets up close to a whale would be at risk of being struck hard and seriously injured by even the slightest of the whale's movements. Although there are no reports of mermaids getting attacked or bitten by sharks, two mermaids have recounted colliding with one. A few others have recalled getting stung by venomous jellyfish. Despite these dangers, Hannah Mermaid herself has experience being able to fearlessly swim around great white sharks in full costume without a heavy-duty cage by maintaining high situational awareness and caution, determined to not let them challenge her dream while also expressing high respect for these predators and demonstrating how they are not eager to hunt anything like her.
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