( CNN ) As the world now knows , the star of the Super Bowl was not Tom Brady or Russell Wilson . It was n't Katy Perry or Missy Elliot . It was the Left Shark . His onstage dance during the halftime show has earned him global acclaim and , I must say , some unfair scrutiny for his seeming missteps . But neither the general public nor the media seem to appreciate just how much work goes into an interpretive , character-based dance such as the one Left Shark performed last night , and how easy it is , if you are committed to your craft , to lose yourself in the moment . Allow me to enlighten you . As a former ballerina , classically trained at the School of the Boston Ballet , I can assure you that Left Shark -- if he is the student of dance I suspect him to be -- trained for months to get inside the head of his character . Literally . Who is Left Shark ? he probably asked himself . And why must he dance ? What is his relationship to Right Shark ? Are they lovers ? Enemies ? Do they share custody of a boy shark who 's starting to ask questions about his parents ' separation , for example ? This is what true dancers -- or danseurs -- do . As Patrick Swayze 's character said in `` Dirty Dancing , '' `` The steps are n't enough . Feel the music . '' I speak from experience . At 12 I played a mouse in `` The Nutcracker '' and for months I studied the abrupt movements , barely discernible to the human eye , of other house mice . What moved them ? What was their raison d'etre ? By the end of my character study I had become that mouse . It took nearly a year for me to drop character afterward . At 13 I played Arabian Coffee in `` The Nutcracker . '' Believe me , getting inside the head of an exotic hot beverage would test even Lee Strasberg 's imagination . I decided to play it complex : caffeinated but also seductive . I wrote in a storyline about an elephant and a prince that only I knew about , but I assure you , it deeply enriched the character . But by far the most challenging role I was ever tasked with undertaking was that of a sylph -- or an `` invisible being of the air '' -- in a ballet called `` Les Sylphides . '' The ballet is non-narrative ; there is no plot . My character 's motivation was therefore mine to create . I imagined her a malnourished Ukrainian runaway who came to America and discovered the simple pleasures of Capri Sun and `` The Simpsons . '' She would return to her homeland one day , but not before she got her bachelor 's degree and some much-needed dental work . Externally , she was sweet and vulnerable , but inside she was tough as nails . The part was only four measures long , but I made the most of it . The point is , no detail is too small or insignificant . And this likely explains why , to the untrained eye , it seems like Left Shark was off his mark or forgot the choreography . He was n't drunk . He was n't overwhelmed by the lights and the crowd and the music . Nor -- as some have claimed -- was he unable to see out of the costume . This would n't stop an artiste . I submit that Left Shark was so engrossed in his character that he felt moved to improvise in the moment . Maybe he envisioned a shifting tide or prey in the distance . Maybe he sniffed a shipwreck or sensed danger lurking behind the palm tree . Perhaps Beach Ball had given him the stink eye . Whatever it was , I 'm sure it was intentional . I can recognize a method dancer when I see one . So , leave Left Shark alone . He is soulful and artistic , and I for one look forward to seeing him stretch and grow . Sadly , of Right Shark , I can not say the same .
S.E . Cupp : Criticism of Left Shark 's missteps in the Katy Perry Super Bowl performance are undeserved . Left ##y is an artist . She says as a young interpretive dancer she had to plumb the depths of her audience .