Who Is Left Shark? Bryan Gaw Is Katy Perry’s Super Bowl Backup Dancer

When Katy Perry thought about her Super Bowl XLIX halftime performance, she probably didn’t think one of her backup dancers would be the talk of the nation. While Perry performed her “California Gurls” and “Teenage Dream” mashup, the left shark got attention for not following the dance moves. Since then, Bryan Gaw claimed he was the man behind the suit.

“Yep. The rumors are true. Yours truly,” Gaw wrote on Instagram Sunday night. Then he added the hashtags “SuperBowlXLIX” and “KatyPerryHalftimeShow.” The photo was liked more than 1,750 times. Gaw even changed his Instagram profile to read, “most recently ‘left shark.’”

“Left shark you were a mess! Learn something from right shark!” one person wrote. “Bryan, thx for letting us know who you are, the dancing shark! I'm still wanting to be you today!” another person said.

Gaw, 30, has performed with Perry for her Prismatic World Tour over the past year, Us Weekly reported. He seems to be thrilled with the attention he’s received and took to Twitter to give his mother a shout-out. “I've always said left coast is the best coast #LeftShark!!!!!#SuperBowlHalftimeShow #HiMom,” he wrote Monday.

While it might seem like Gaw should be fired for his offbeat dance moves, he apparently was just doing his job. The sharks were given two tasks: One was to hit the dance moves, and the other was to have fun in a “Tweedledee/Tweedledum” manner, Perry’s choreography R.J. Durrell told The Hollywood Reporter.

"Clearly, that was portrayed with the overzealous shark on the right hitting precise dance moves, while the left shark was playing up the more goofy, fun-spirited, sports fan, mascot type, who was just happy to be at the Super Bowl."

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