Ever heard of the Mermaid Parade in Coney Island, New York City? In a nutshell, it’s a day in summertime when ladies, lads, and all the folks in between come out to celebrate the wacky, the beautiful, and the downright improper wonders of humanity. All of the Mermaids and their naughty nautical friends band together to celebrate diversity, individual expression, and pretty much debauchery in general — a very necessary release for many of us tightly-wound New Yorkers. While the Mermaid Parade is a wild release for many, it’s also an opportunity to practice our rights as free Americans to be whomever we wish.

You may remember that Dani, our founder and lead artist here at The Body of Art, took part in the Women’s March this past winter through a flashmob dance group called Dance Suit Nation. It consisted of around twenty-five women who organized a female empowerment dance (a là Rosie the Riveter) to be performed in front of Trump Tower, which was conveniently located at the end of the parade route. Needless to say, Dance Suit Nation’s performance was a hit, and they banded together several times throughout the March to repeat their syncopated boogie. They even took to the subway days after to spread the joy and solidarity of their message, to the delight of many iPhone-holding commuters.

The matching white blazers-and-trousers of Dance Suit Nation was a sight to behold, but the Mermaid Parade is something of a different ilk: according to Dani, it’s a “boobs-out, all the glitter, all the glory, transforming into superheroes for a few hours” kind of experience. Many of the women in Dance Suit Nation also belong to this exact troupe of Mermaid performers, and they call themselves The Tailshakers (formerly known as The Sexcamaids). Personally, Dani prefers the individual label “Mermacorn,” but you get the idea — these ladies are taking the reigns and unleashing their inner “nasty woman” through wigs, costume, makeup, and dance.

Those of you who know Dani can probably see why she was attracted to such a group of bad bitches. After doing the Tailshakers’ makeup and body paint designs for seven years, Dani was finally convinced to join the ranks. And this year’s color palette was the whole freakin’ rainbow: each dancer donned a rainbow-sequin-fringe-gauntlet on their arm, and the rows of dancers color-coordinated to form a human ROYGBIV. Clearly, even The Tailshakers is about more than personal expression; the Mermaid Parade as a whole is about celebrating the diversity of humanity, in all its varied hues.

Don’t get us wrong — all of us here at BoA are all for professionalism and tact. But sometimes, it helps to let out the inner… fantastical alter-ego.

So… hit us up if you’re feeling the itch.

P.S. Halloween is basically only 100 days away. Just sayin’.