MIAMI — What does it take to be an underwater performer at the Wreck Bar?
Swimming skills. Breathing skills. And a lot of patience.
Home to the only underwater burlesque show in the U.S., the Wreck Bar at B Ocean Resort in Fort Lauderdale is the underwater playground of Marina Anderson, aka the mermaid MeduSirena, and her team. In addition to the burlesque shows, they perform in a family-friendly show involving a treasure hunt on Saturdays and swim during a Mermaids & Mimosas brunch on Sundays.
So what special skills do you need to be an aqua performer? You need to be able to smile underwater. You need to be able to blow kisses. You also need to know more than you ever dreamed about applying waterproof makeup. If you’re in the burlesque show, you need to learn how to strip and swim at the same time.
Here are five other things you need to know about these underwater performers.
They have to be strong swimmers
Anderson says the swimming skills come first. She grew up in Puerto Rico and has loved to swim since she was a child. “I believe in a lot of swim training to be able to swim in a fishtail ensemble or do aqua burlesque. You want to be able to control yourself in the water so it doesn’t look like you’re having any difficulty. If you can do that, you’ve done your job.”
Aqua “Boylesque” performer Brian Dohner — don’t call him a merman — has been a competitive swimmer since he was 5. He’s had to make adjustments to perform under the water instead of on top of it. “It’s all about moving very, very slowly,” he says. “I learned a lot from the ladies. They move so gracefully and so much slower. That also helps keep your heart rate down so you don’t need to go up to get air quite as often.”
They can hold their breath for a long time
Mermaid Leydis Castillo, who swims in the Coral Reef family-friendly show, estimates you need to be able to hold your breath for at least a minute and a half to do the shows, though longer is even better. “You have to train your body every day,” she says. She improved her own times learned by doing interval breathing — holding her breath for 30 seconds, then 45, then a minute and so on — with help from a timing app.
Holding your breath is a lot harder when it’s chilly
Like the rest of us, mermaids like warm breezes and warm water. A cold snap makes every mermaid’s job tougher, Castillo says.
“Your body is trying to fight that cold,” she says, laughing at the memory of trying to perform during a recent winter cold snap. “You can train for it, but when you’re a Floridian and you never see the cold, it’s hard.”
Little kids ask a lot of questions
It is a truth universally acknowledged that little kids have no chill, nor can they be plied with alcohol to make them accept fantasy more easily.
Castillo says any mermaid who interacts with kids has to be ready to be bombarded with questions. “The kids will grill you,” she says. “They’re like, ‘Who’s your father? How did you get here? Who’s your favorite fish? Are you real?’ You have to come up with answers fast.”
Grownups just want them to strip down faster
When Brian Dohner comes into the bar after the show, he hears this suggestion a lot: “Strip faster.”
“I’m slow to take off clothing,” he admits. “But that’s burlesque. It’s about the tease.”
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If you go
Mermaid shows at Wreck Bar
Where: B Ocean Resort, 1140 Seabreeze Ave., Fort Lauderdale, Florida
When: Polynesian show and dinner 7:30 p.m. Wednesdays; Aquamen burlesque 8:30 p.m. every other Thursday; mermaid burlesque 8:30 p.m. Fridays; 7:30 and 10 p.m. Saturdays; Coral Reef family-friendly show noon Saturdays; 11 a.m.-3 p.m. Mimosas & Mermaids Sunday brunch
Cost: Starting at $45 for Coral Reef kids show; $55 for Mimosas & Mermaid brunch with bottomless mimosas; $65 for adult shows with $35 going toward food credit
Tickets: www.bhotelsandresorts.com/b-ocean-resort/eat-drink/mermaids-at-the-wreck-bar
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