Underwater Ballet

Azlan · **Posted:** Mon Sep 01, 2003 11:06 am

Quote:

Mermaids, Part of Old Florida, Fight for Tails

Robert Green
Reuters

Young women in Lycra mermaid tails have been performing underwater ballets in the sparking clear waters of Weeki Wachee Springs Park for more than half a century to the delight of millions of tourists. <a href=http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/nm/20030901/lf_nm/leisure_mermaids_dc_1 target=_blank>more on Yahoo</a>

ballet gorilla2 · **Joined:** Wed Sep 18, 2002 11:01 pm **Posts:** 30

Azlan, at $6.50 an hour, they must be dedicated. Being from Florida, I too, when younger, was a performer with the Young's Water Thrill Show and we did Ballet on water skiis. Sometimes, you didn't know if you are going to run into an alligator. That was not the fun part. Pretty scary, too.
Thanks for this article. It is interesting and I hope that people donate enough to keep the show alive.

salzberg · **Posted:** Mon Sep 01, 2003 12:00 pm

Quote:

Young women in Lycra mermaid tails have been performing underwater ballets in the sparking clear waters of Weeki Wachee Springs Park for more than half a century to the delight of millions of tourists.

That's a long time to hold your breath.

djb · **Posted:** Mon Sep 01, 2003 1:05 pm

I'm sure that's an exaggeration -- they probably come up for breath every few years.

[ 01 September 2003, 03:09 PM: Message edited by: djb ]

ballet gorilla2 · **Joined:** Wed Sep 18, 2002 11:01 pm **Posts:** 30

And, their low salary took my breath away.

Liscarkat · **Posted:** Tue Sep 02, 2003 3:17 pm

In the '60s, they also had girls dressed as mermaids swimming in the atomic submarine pond at Disneyland. They went away in the '70s, and the whole ride is gone now. My wife used to work there (not as a mermaid) and got minimum wage. I doubt that the mermaids got much more.

Azlan · **Posted:** Sun Sep 14, 2003 2:15 pm

An update:

Quote:

Air may be running out for mermaids

MITCH STACY
Associated Press in the Miami Herald

WEEKI WACHEE - The world-famous mermaids of Weeki Wachee Springs are holding their collective breath. <a href=http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/state/6763116.htm target=_blank>more</a>

Stuart Sweeney · **Posted:** Mon Sep 15, 2003 1:13 am

"...a ''Save Our Tails'' campaign that has so far netted about $5,000 in donations."

Ouch! $5,000 won't go very far against the list of necessary improvements.

[ 15 September 2003, 03:13 AM: Message edited by: Stuart Sweeney ]

Stuart Sweeney · **Posted:** Wed Sep 24, 2003 12:48 am

Just imagine - you're at a party and someone asks, "What do you do for a living?" And you reply, "I'm a Weeki Wachee mermaid." Wouldn't that be great?

Much less believable is that the Southwest Florida Water Management District is known as Swiftmud.

Ballet-dancing mermaids of Florida win reprieve
By Robert Green for Reuters

WEEKI WACHEE, Fla. (Reuters) - Florida's endangered Weeki Wachee mermaids got a reprieve Tuesday when a state agency voted to keep their aging theme park open while renovations are made.

The park, about 80 km north of Tampa, has been presenting underwater ballets with women in mermaid costumes since 1947. But attendance has been falling for decades since the opening of more elaborate parks such as Walt Disney World and Universal Studios near Orlando.

The Southwest Florida Water Management District, known as Swiftmud, threatened this summer to close the park because of concern that problems with the sewer system might contaminate Weeki Wachee Springs, which pumps over 455 million litres of water into the nearby Gulf of Mexico.

click for more

[ 24 September 2003, 05:01 AM: Message edited by: Stuart Sweeney ]

kurinuku · **Posted:** Wed Sep 24, 2003 6:27 am

Quote:

Ballet-Dancing Mermaids of Florida Win Reprieve

By ROBERT GREEN
U.S. National - Reuters

The park, about 50 miles north of Tampa, has been presenting underwater ballets with women in mermaid costumes since 1947. But attendance has been falling for decades since the opening of more elaborate parks such as Walt Disney World and Universal Studios near Orlando.

more

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