RIO DE JANEIRO — Davi Moreira looks like any other young Rio de Janeiro beach lover as he heads down to the Ipanema surf each week — at least until he dons his blue mermaid's tail. "It's a lifestyle, a way of expressing my love and respect for the sea and this encounter between two worlds. Like many who feel the need to dress up as mermaids and swim with the up and down motion of the broad tail, Moreira was inspired from childhood by Disney's popular animated movie "The Little Mermaid." His bedroom is full of references to the movie: Ariel-themed bedcover, "Little Mermaid" cups, Ariel shirts, Ariel dolls, every Ariel movie or series, Ariel pictures...Moreira, who also has a "Little Mermaid" tattoo, has adopted the persona of "Davi Sereio," or "Davi Mermaid" in Portuguese, and has recorded a gay spoof version of the Disney film on YouTube. Behind Valverde's on-screen swimming skills is Mirella Ferraz, who describes herself as Brazil's "first professional mermaid."

Source: The China Post May 19, 2017 06:11 UTC