Merlesque Mermaids Blog - Merlesque Mermaids

Magical Mermaid Cabaret Act

16/10/2016

Mermaid Ondine reports:
We've just had some great pictures back of our recent Merlesque mermaid cabaret performance at the amazing Honeysuckle Revue. Thanks to the very talented Pradeep Lawrence for the shots! We had a great time performing at the Revue alongside some amazing, creative and crazy acts - can't wait til it's back in Cambridge and London in the spring.

Meet a Mermaid at Milton Country Park Autumn Festival!

22/9/2016

Mermaid Ondine reports:

The Merlesque Mermaids are excited to announce that Mermaid Ondine will be appearing at the Milton Country Park Autumn Festival, this Sunday 25th September.

Mermaid Ondine will be performing at the Festival between 11.30am and 1pm, so if you've got any little mermaid fans who'd love the chance to meet a real life mermaid, bring them along for a great photo opportunity! Plus we hear a rumour that there may be some free mermaid stickers being handed out as well...

Sea you there!

Mermaid Ondine x

Merlesque in the Cambridge Magazine

2/1/2016

Mermaid Melusine reports:

What a start to 2016! Merlesque mermaid Ondine has been featured in Cambridge Magazine, in a special feature on people doing their dream jobs. As well as our very own professional mermaid, the article includes interviews with a firefighter, explorer, novelist, fashion designer, and more - so it's well worth a read. You can read the article by clicking on the link above and then going to "Read the latest edition" on the right-hand side of the page. Mermaid Ondine's interview is then on page 70 of the magazine. Let us know what you think!

See behind the scenes at an underwater mermaid photoshoot in the UK!

8/5/2015

Mermaid Ondine reports:

Have you ever wanted to see behind the scenes at an underwater photoshoot? Well, now you can! We've put together a few clips showing our mermaids in action at a recent underwater shoot - and you can see even more over at the Merlesque Mermaids Youtube Channel. Our mermaids are experienced underwater models with great breath holds, buoyancy control, and a lot of experience modelling both in mermaid and human form! Our next photoshoot on the 17th May is already fully booked with photographers, but if you'd be interested in coming along next time to get the chance to take beautiful underwater pictures without needing specialist equipment (or to get your feet wet!), please contact us and we'll keep you informed about our upcoming shoots.

Underwater Photography in the UK!

20/2/2015

Are you a keen UK photographer? Would you love the opportunity to try out underwater photography - but without the expensive set up and equipment? Well, look no further - the Merlesque Mermaids and Lily La Mer have an amazing opportunity for you! Our next underwater photoshoot is taking place on Sunday the 8th in Peterborough, UK - giving you the chance to photograph mermaids and human models through a giant photographic-quality acrylic tank. Here's a sample of just a couple of the amazing images that were captured at our last photoshoot in August:

Photograph by Johannes Hjorth

Photograph by Dave Stewart

This is a completely unique opportunity to add a great range of incredible underwater images to your portfolio, using just your regular camera. You'll be working with our professional mermaids, all of whom are experienced underwater models with long breath holds and fantastic buoyancy control. To find out more about this incredible opportunity, and to book your space, just visit our photoshoots web page.

Happy New Year 2015 from the Merlesque Mermaids!

1/1/2015

The Merlesque Mermaids report:

Happy New Year from the Merlesque Mermaids! Wow - what a year 2014 has been for us. We can but hope that 2015 proves to be just as exciting.

The year got off to a good start for Mermaid Lily La Mer in January, when she flew off halfway around the world on a mermaiding tour of Australia and South East Asia - check out the beautiful Miss La Mer on a surfboard, opposite!

At the same time, back in the UK, Mermaids Ondine and Melusine were developing the Merlesque cabaret act, which has been a great hit this year - we've performed everywhere from Madam Jojos to The Scala, and from private parties to the Empire Casino, Leicester Square.

It's also been a big year for underwater photography, and the Merlesque mermaids have taken part in several underwater photoshoots - they've even occasionally used a little mermaid magic to take on human form when modelling underwater. You can see a video of one of our photoshoots by clicking here.

In August, we ran the first ever Merlesque Photoshoot. Photographers interested in experiencing underwater photography (without getting their feet wet!) came along to photograph the mermaids in a film-quality water tank. We were delighted to see all the wonderful pictures that they were able to take of our stunning sirens, and there was so much positive feedback that we're planning to run another shoot again soon - if you're a photographer who would be interested in taking part, you can contact us to be added to our mailing list.

Photograph by Dave Stewart

Our mermaids have also been enchanting young and old at aquariums across the country. Merlesque Mermaid Lily La Mer swam at the Blue Planet Aquarium in Cheshire during the summer, and mermaids Melusine and Ondine were the stars of the Magical Mermaids Weekend at Deep Sea World Aquarium in Edinburgh, where they were kept busy swimming alongside seven sand tiger sharks and meeting lots of very excited little humans. The water in Deep Sea World's shark tank is icy cold - check out Mermaid Melusine warming up in a sink, opposite! Plus you can see a video of our mermaids in action by clicking here.

There have also been plenty of magical children's parties to keep our real mermaids occupied, plus a whole range of exciting events too numerous to mention; some of our personal highlights have been the Folkestone Mermaid Festival and the Summer House Weekend. Plus our mermaids have been featured regularly in the press, including Mermaid Lily La Mer who appeared in the Daily Mail, and Mermaid Ondine who made the front page of the Cambridge News.

Phew! There's so much more we could say after an incredibly busy year for our mermaids - but we appreciate you might be feeling a little the worse for wear after last night's celebrations... So we'll just give a huge mermaidenly THANK YOU! to everyone who has helped to make 2014 such an amazing year for Merlesque - shout out to the incredible photographers who have worked with us, the amazing streamies who have given up their time to help us out, and of course all of our wonderful customers, fans, and collaborators, without whom none of this would be possible. May 2015 bring you all plenty of bubbles and magic!

Love and best fishes,

The Merlesque Mermaids x

Photograph by Andrew Stawarz

Merry Mermaidy Christmas!

26/12/2014

Merry Christmas from the Merlesque Mermaids! Check out this beautiful (if, admittedly, not particularly seasonal) picture by talented photographer Duncan Grisby. For Christmas, Merlesque are hoping to get 1,000 followers on our Facebook page - follow us now for more gorgeous underwater photography and videos!

Real Life Mermaids Swimming With Sharks!

31/10/2014

Mermaid Ondine reports:
You might remember that waaay back at the start of October, mermaid Melusine and myself swam all the way across the UK and up to Edinburgh to perform at Deep Sea World aquarium, where we appeared swimming alongside their seven huge sand tiger sharks! We've put together a video showing our real life mermaids swimming with sharks, which you can see below - or visit our YouTube channel where you can see even more amazing underwater footage of real mermaids.

We were at the aquarium for three days during the Magical Mermaids weekend in October, and our mermaids appeared in the tropical rock pools so that children and adults alike could come to have their photo taken with a real life mermaid. Plus there was the opportunity to watch from the aquarium's observation tunnel as the Merlesque mermaids swam alongside the UK's largest collection of sharks, and an amazing selection of fish and other sea creatures - including Stella the stingray, who's definitely the friendliest stingray we've ever met.

real mermaid at deep sea world aquarium merlesque

Mermaid Melusine can't wait to get in the water!

real mermaid swimming at deep sea world quarium edinburgh merlesque

Mermaid Ondine preparing for a dive!

The staff at Deep Sea World were so lovely and incredibly helpful with carrying us around everywhere and keeping us supplied with hot drinks and big buckets of hot water - we're tropical mermaids, so the icy water in the shark tank (which is piped in straight from the Forth!) felt extremely chilly to us. We came up with a whole variety of ways to warm up after our swims, including warm showers, borrowing the staff hairdryers, and even just sitting in a sink of hot water - check out Mermaid Melusine demonstrating this particular technique below!

We also had the opportunity to meet an incredible array of different creatures who live in the aquarium, including two adorable seals, an alligator snapping turtle named Godzilla, and a whole shoal of piranha (we decided against joining them in their tank...). Mermaid Melusine made a particularly strong impression on one little batfish in the tropical rock pools, and every time she was in there, he would swim right up and kiss her hand. After a while we decided to call him Eric, after the prince in Disney's The Little Mermaid - although unlike Eric in the film, he was much less shy about kissing the girl!

Over the course of the Magical Mermaids weekend we met so many little mermaid fans, and it was lovely to chat to them all and answer their questions about life under the sea.

Real mermaid in a sink at Deep Sea World aquarium Merlesque

Mermaid Melusine warms up in a sink

The whole weekend was made even more special by the fact that the aquarium had created a lovely storybook complete with pictures of us and a story explaining to the children how we came to be mermaids. Mermaid Melusine and I both got copies of the storybook to take home! Hopefully we'll be back at Deep Sea World sometime in the new year, so if you love mermaids and you're based in the Edinburgh area, watch this space.

Best fishes,

Mermaid Ondine x

Underwater Photoshoot in Peterborough 23rd August!

9/8/2014

Mermaid Ondine reports:

The Merlesque mermaids are incredibly excited to announce a unique opportunity for 15 lucky photographers on the 23rd August: the chance to photograph real mermaids and underwater models - without getting your feet wet!

Ever wanted to try underwater photography but been put off by the expensive equipment and complex set-up? This is the perfect opportunity to dip a toe into the magical world of underwater photography, without the worry and expense. You will be able to photograph mermaids and dancers through the sides of a photographic-quality acrylic tank, meaning that you can use your own favourite camera to capture beautiful underwater images. The tank at the Peterborough Aquatheatre is make of high grade acrylic which is perfect for distortion-free photography, as it has a refraction rate much closer to that of water than a glass tank would have.

Lighting will be set up and tested before you arrive, and shoots will take place in small groups of no more than five photographers at a time. You will be able to shoot both a mermaid in full costume, and a model in human form; all our models are experienced professional underwater models with the ability to control their buoyancy, hold their breath and open their eyes underwater - all while posing and looking beautiful. We will supply props and costumes, but we're also very much open to your suggestions, so if there are any particular ideas you have for what you'd like to shoot, just let us know!

This is the first time we have ever run this event, and consequently the amazing price of £60 (or £55 if you like our Facebook page) covers tank hire alone. We will never be able to run this event so cheaply again, so please do come and join us.

You can find out more details (including timings etc.) here, or please do contact us if you have further questions or would like to book your space.

Merlesque Mermaids at the Beach!

21/7/2014

Mermaid Ondine reports:

Mermaid Melusine and I love this gorgeous photograph by Andrew Childs Photography, of our appearance on the beach at the Folkestone Mermaid Festival on the 19th July! We had a fabulous time - first we took part in the mermaid parade along the seafront, which featured some great drumming (and highly talented kids with homemade rattles!). Next, we enjoyed lounging in a magical mermaid grotto on the beach, meeting lots of lovely mermaid fans, posing for photographs and talking about life under the sea. Our grotto was event decorated with beautiful fish and jellyfish, handmade by children at the local school

Then finally - just as a dramatic electric storm was drawing in from across the sea - we appeared onstage with our musical mermaid cabaret act, including one song written specially for the good people of Folkestone and their Little Mermaid in the harbour... It was a wonderful event, and hopefully we'll follow up with some more photographs shortly.