What is "grizzly bear"

Turkey-trot \Tur"key-trot`\, n. An eccentric ragtime dance, danced with the feet well apart and with a characteristic rise on the ball of the foot, followed by a drop upon the heel. The original form, owning to the positions assumed by the dancers, is offensively suggestive. Similar dances are the

bunny hug and

grizzly bear, so called in allusion to the movements and the positions assumed by the partners in dancing.

n. A large North American subspecies, ''Ursus arctos horribilis'', of the brown bear.

n. powerful brownish-yellow bear of the uplands of western North America [syn: grizzly, silvertip, silver-tip, Ursus horribilis, Ursus arctos horribilis]

The Grizzly Bear is an early 20th-century dance style. It started in San Francisco, along with the Bunny Hug and Texas Tommy and was also done on the Staten Island ferry boats in the 1900s. It has been said that dancers John Jarrott and Louise Gruenning introduced this dance as well as the Turkey Trot at Ray Jones Café in Chicago, Illinois around 1909. The Grizzly Bear was first introduced to Broadway audiences in the Ziegfeld Follies of 1910 by Fanny Brice.

The dance was rough and clumsy. During the dance, the dancers would yell out: "It's a Bear!" The genuine Grizzly Bear step was in correct imitation of the movements of a dancing bear, moving or dancing to the side. A very heavy step to the side with a decided bending of the upper part of the body from one side to the other, a decidedly ungraceful and undignified movement when performed as a dance.

It was reported that one of the reasons former President Woodrow Wilson's inaugural ball was cancelled was because of his "disapproval of such modern dances as the turkey trot, the grizzly bear and the bunny hug". Not long before this, in 1912, New York placed the dance under a "social ban", along with other "huggly-wiggly dances", like the Turkey Trot and the Boston Dip. It was also condemned in numerous cities across the US during the same time period, with many considering it to be a "degenerate dance".

However, a large portion of society accepted the dance, along with other similar dances. The Grizzly Bear dance was featured "on Broadway, in vaudeville, and at cabaret performances". In fact, it is believed that the first introduction to the "general public" of the dance came about in the original "Broadway production of Over the River" in 1912.

In 2015, Boulder-based contemporary dance artist Christopher Reetz revitalized interest in the "Grizzly Bear". In a February 2015 interview, Reetz described his interpretation of the dance: "First, you're riding a bear. Then, you are the bear".

Grizzly Bear is an American rock band from Brooklyn, New York, formed in 2002. The band consists of Edward Droste (vocals, guitar, keyboards, omnichord), Daniel Rossen (vocals, guitar, banjo, keyboards), Chris Taylor (bass, backing vocals, various instruments, producer) and Christopher Bear (drums, backing vocals). The band employs traditional and electronic instruments. Their sound has been categorized as psychedelic pop, folk rock, and experimental, and is dominated by the use of vocal harmonies.

The grizzly bear (Ursus arctos ssp.) is the great brown bear of North America.

Grizzly Bear may also refer to: __NOTOC__

The grizzly bear (Ursus arctos ssp.) less commonly called the silvertip bear, is any North American morphological form or subspecies of brown bear, including the mainland grizzly (Ursus arctos horribilis), Kodiak bear (U. a. middendorffi), peninsular grizzly (U. a. gyas), and the recently extinct California grizzly (U. a. californicus†) and Mexican grizzly bear (U. a. nelsoni†). Scientists do not use the name grizzly bear but call it the North American brown bear. (See brown bear for a discussion of brown bears outside of North America). It should not be confused with the black grizzly or Ussuri brown bear (U. a. lasiotus) which is another giant brown bear inhabiting Russia, Northern China, and Korea.