Dancing Bear

While images of ballet dancers and hip hop artists make up a solid majority of dance-related images, the dancing bear is also an extremely well-known, downright iconic, dance image. The dancing bear, alongside tie-dyed fabrics, is the symbol of the classic rock band the Grateful Dead, and their dancing bears are known worldwide. While the bears are recognized all over the world, not everybody knows what they stand for, and many people who know that they are the symbol of a band do not know to what musical group they belong. In addition, most people, even classic rock music fans, do not know why the dancing bear became a symbol of the Grateful Dead in the first place.

The dancing bears became a symbol of the Grateful Dead after they appeared on the back of an album released by the band. Although it was not intended that the bears become the symbol that everyone would associate with the band, the image was somehow a catchy one because fans began, almost immediately, to associate the bear with the band.

In most images featuring the dancing bears, there are several of them in a line. Each bear is a different color and is in a different 'dancing' position. The producer of the album on which the bears appeared, Owen Stanley, claims that the bears are not dancing at all, but rather are doing a high-step march. Perhaps it's the joyous expressions on the bears' faces that made everyone think they were dancing.

Interestingly, another Grateful Dead album, Terrapin Station, featured two dancing turtles on the front cover. Although these turtles may be more clearly dancing than the bears are, the turtles never became an iconic symbol of the Grateful Dead.

The symbolic bears of the Grateful Dead can be found in many places and on many things. Any 'Deadhead' (the term used to refer to the fans of the band) may have a bumper sticker on their car displaying the bears. The other, very widespread, place where the dancing bears are seen is on t-shirts for the band. Of course, t-shirts for the band are firstly recognizable for being tie-dyed, but the bears are also quite frequently seen on the band's t-shirts.

While the bears of the Grateful Dead are perhaps the best well known dancing bears around the world, there are also so-called 'dancing bears' that perform as a kind of circus act in some provinces in India. Animal activists decry this practice as unfair treatment of animals and demand that the shows be stopped in their tracks. While very few people disagree that this is cruel and should be stopped, finding the resources to stop those who do it from continuing to do it is difficult.

The bears who dance on Grateful Dead t-shirts, albums, and bumper stickers are a happy image that almost inevitably bring a smile to everyone who sees them. The dancing bears of India are rather a cause for concern, and although the images capturing their pain are not at all joyful ones, they are circulated in an effort to raise awareness about the problem.

If you're looking for a colorful and joyful visual expression of dance, the bears of the Grateful Dead are a great option.

• Photos of Ballet Dancers
• Dance Studio Equipment
• Pictures of Limbo Dancing

• Dance Steps to Thriller
• Popular Line Dances
• Famous Choreographers
• Country Line Dance Steps
• Famous Ballet Dancers