Body-Positive Pole Dancer Posed as a Mermaid and It’s Everything
We’re accustomed to seeing Roz Mays (aka Roz the Diva) work it out on the pole. But as it turns out, Mama can also work a mermaid tail.
The certified personal trainer, plus-size pole dancer, and mastermind behind Dangerous Curves — a plus-size pole-dancing competition — shared a few photos on Sunday from her trip to Hawaii that will make you want to camp out on a rock somewhere near the ocean and be a siren full-time. We hear the benefits are seariously good.
In a series of images posted on Instagram, we see Mays on the beach in Waikiki, Hawaii, lying on her stomach with her arms extended, rocking a gorgeous magenta-hued mermaid tail, shells, and a lei. Mays says Hawaii-based photographer Stephanie Cannizzaro reached out to her while she was in Oahu to shoot her on the beach — and came with a mermaid tail handy, as one who has access to mermaid tails does.
A post shared by Roz The Diva (@rozthediva) on Mar 16, 2017 at 10:24am PDT
“Stephanie had everything!” Mays shares with Yahoo Style. “Not only did she come with a tail, shell bra, and necklaces, but she knew exactly how to pose me for the best pictures. As if that weren’t enough work, she had her 8-month-old baby girl in tow. That’s some motherhood magic right there.” Indeed!
The photos show Mays looking like a bona fide sea queen in her getup — carefree, arresting, and magical. We see her splashing her tail in the waves, looking lovely and lavish on the rocks, and getting washed up onshore like a fabulous treasure from the deep.
A post shared by Roz The Diva (@rozthediva) on Mar 18, 2017 at 3:27pm PDT
Cannizzaro tells Yahoo Style that she is all about the mermaid life. She crafted the shell bra herself and owns mermaid tails in both adult and children’s sizes. She says that, as a fellow plus-size pole dancer, she felt compelled to contact Mays for the shoot. “I have admired Roz for a long time,” she says. “It was a day’s notice, but we totally made it happen. I really wanted to meet her, but I also wanted to show that mermaids can come in all shapes, colors, and sizes! You don’t have to be a size zero to make your mermaid dreams come true!”
For Mays, the photos are a departure from her usual Instagram fare. “I live my life in sneakers and sweaty gym clothes, so it was a lot of fun trying a completely different look,” she says. And what a look it was, taking us from the pole to the Pacific Ocean!
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