About

The Left Shark, also known as the Super Bowl Halftime Shark, is a nickname given to one of the stage dancers dressed in a shark costume during Katy Perry's halftime performance at the Super Bowl XLIX on February 1st, 2015.

Origin

On November 23rd, 2014, NFL announced that Katy Perry will perform the halftime show at the Super Bowl XLIX on February 1st, 2015, starring special guests Lenny Kravitz and Missy Elliott.^[154][155] During the performance of her song "Teenage Dream," one of the backup dancers dressed as a shark and dancing to the left side of the singer was seen screwing up a routine while on stage. Shortly after the conclusion of the halftime show, the awkwardly dancing "left shark" quickly emerged as a trending topic on Twitter and elsewhere.

Spread

At 8:23 p.m. (EST), rapper Snoop Dogg tweeted a joke claiming that he was one of the sharks dancing next to Katy Perry.^[1] Within matter of just a few hours, the tweet gained nearly 100,000 retweets.

At 9:08 p.m. (EST), BuzzFeed ran a character survey asking its readers "Which Katy Perry Halftime Show Shark Are You?"^[2]

Identity

On January 31st, 2018, NPR's Morning Edition radio show broadcast an interview with Los Angeles-based hairstylist Bryan Gaw, who was identified as the person wearing the shark costume during the halftime show.^[3]

In the interview, Gaw explained what inspired him to dance in his unique style during the performance:

“So there’s a set choreography. There’s also what’s called freestyle choreography, or, like, you get to move around or play your character as a dancer. … I’m in a 7-foot blue shark costume. There’s no cool in that. So what’s the other option? Well, I’m gonna play a different character.”

Various Examples

Search Interest

External References