| Sesame Street | |||||||||
| Big Bird wants to be a dancer | |||||||||
| Air date | February 2, 1996 | ||||||||
| Season | Season 27 (1995-1996) | ||||||||
| Written by | Tony Geiss | ||||||||
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| Picture | Segment | Description |
|---|---|---|
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COLD OPEN | Big Bird hears some wonderful piano music coming through the windows of Celina's dance studio. It makes him want to dance, so he does as he makes his way upstairs. |
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SCENE 1 | Everyone watches as a couple does an elegant ballet dance. Celina explains what a ballet is to Big Bird, who first misinterprets it as "belly dancing." She adds there's even one about birds: Swan Lake. Big Bird wants to try that ballet (especially since he's got a distant cousin who's a swan), taken aback that people could dance as a living and getting applause for it. After the performance, Big Bird gives it a try but finds it's harder than it looks; he thinks it'll only take one lesson for him to learn. He asks Celina to teach him and she advises him to come to the next lesson, along with the proper footwear. |
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Song | "Dancin' Shoes" (First: Episode 2949) |
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Cartoon | Letters gather in order, against the birds-eye view of a city. (First: Episode 3267) |
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Muppets | Monsterpiece Theater: Dances with Wolves — A pig is reluctant to dance with a wolf. (First: Episode 3234) |
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Cartoon | A pencil tries to write the word DANCE. (First: Episode 1966) |
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SCENE 2 | Big Bird attends today's ballet lesson with the other kids, having borrowed his cousin Igor's ballet slippers. He chats with a couple of the students, who think he must be a skilled dancer if he only needs one lesson. Since he's really a beginner, Celina starts him off with the five basic ballet positions. Big Bird has trouble mastering them, saying "Ouch!" as he keeps stepping on his toes. |
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Film | Feet wearing all different types of shoes dance. (First: Episode 2601) |
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Animation | D / d (space paint) (First: Episode 3213) |
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Song | "Big D and Little D" (First: Episode 3270) |
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Animation | D Candles (First: Episode 3085) |
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Muppets | Ernie sings "Dance Myself to Sleep." (First: Episode 1705) |
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Cartoon | Shoes dance to a square dance tune. |
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SCENE 3 | Sporting a bandage on his foot, Big Bird now tries some ballet stretching at the barre. He struggles to get his leg on but is able to get it over with everyone's help. After the lesson everyone helps him get his leg back down, and he considers hiring them as his assistants when he gets to be famous. |
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Song | "You Can Get Right Up": a song about getting active to cheer up. (First: Episode 3142) |
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Cartoon | A baby and father illustrate up and down. (First: Episode 2687) |
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Muppets | Grover is a personal trainer of his workout video called, "Grover's Monster Workout Video." He exercises with Bobby and Cissy, but he gets tired from swinging his arms, running, and jumping up and down that he faints. (First: Episode 3227) |
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Cartoon | A caterpillar sings "Exercise Song." Artist: ArtistMike (First: Episode 2839) |
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Film | A girl draws a picture of her friend Amelia. (First: Episode 2784) |
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SCENE 4 | Celina now teaches the students about running and leaping. Everyone lines up and Big Bird follows the more experienced dancers... leaping right into the hatrack. "I got the jumping part, but I forgot the 'bend your knees when you land' part," he sighs. |
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Song | "Jump" (soul) (First: Episode 3136) |
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Cartoon | Number Creatures #20 (First: Episode 2687) |
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Film | A judo class does 20 jumping jacks. (First: Episode 3434) |
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Cartoon | The Bellhop is sent to the grocery store to get twenty grapefruits. He counts to 20 on the way there so that he can remember the quantity, but forgets what item he was sent for. (First: Episode 2533) |
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Muppets | Kingston Livingston III sings "Just Happy to Be Me." (First: Episode 3178) |
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Cartoon | Two cavemen argue, each chanting "Me!" A large monolith bearing the word ME puts fear in both of them. (new sound effects added) (First: Episode 0793) |
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SCENE 5 | Big Bird (now with a bandaged beak) is told he should sit out now as the rest of the kids rehearse their performance. Big Bird thinks he's in fine condition to dance, but after the kids do their choreographed dance routine Big Bird takes center stage and crashes into the hatrack again. Big Bird reconsiders taking another lesson, though Celina says it takes years to learn the dances for Swan Lake. Furious with this new knowledge, Big Bird storms out of the studio. |
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Song | "It's a Long Hard Road, But I'm Gonna Get There." (Vocals by Jerry Nelson) (First: Episode 3398) |
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Animation | Lillian is proud because she climbed a mountain all by herself. Artist: Craig Bartlett (First: Episode 2749) |
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Muppets / Celebrity | "Two Princes" |
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Film | The McDouble twins know how to help each other. (First: Episode 3213) |
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Cartoon | Consonant Sound Limerick: D—Dog Artist: Jeff Hale (First: Episode 1149) |
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Animation | D ... daring ... dazzling ... delightful ... dizzy ... dreaded ... dinosaur! (First: Episode 3407) |
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Animation | Where do the d's fit? (First: Episode 1617) |
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Film | Children dance to different rhythms from around the world. (First: Episode 2499) |
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SCENE 6 | Celina catches up with Big Bird outside and tells him there is a dance he could do right now, without special shoes or a lesson. She sings a song with some music that makes her feel like dancing, and soon Big Bird finds himself happily dancing with Celina and the other students. Celina announces the sponsors in voiceover, and the credits follow. |
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COMING SOON | Coming Soon on Sesame Street: Zoe amazes a crowd at Finders Keepers with her piano playing, even though she's never played it before. |
Notes[]
- The episode was later re-aired in Season 29 as Episode 3721.
See also[]
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| Episode 3449 | Episode 3451 |