Episode 3851

	Sesame Street
	Big Bird and Elmo develop a new dance
Air date	January 3, 2000; (season premiere)
Season	Season 31 (2000)
Written by	Christine Ferraro
Directed by	Emily Squires; Mary Perillo (ballet segments)
Production	October 5-7, 1999
Sponsors	T, 5
Syndication	123 Sesame Street; PBS Sprout

Picture	Segment	Description
	COLD OPEN	Zoe interrupts the opening theme sequence to point out the ballerinas in one shot (since she is one herself), and announces that there will be a lot of dancing today on Sesame Street. She leaps out of shot, and the sequence resumes.
	SCENE 1	Everyone on Sesame Street appears to be in a dancing mood: Luis and Maria do a samba as they work on a bike at the Fix-It Shop, and Alan dances with his broom while sweeping around Hooper's Store. Big Bird welcomes the viewer and he and Zoe reveal that there's going to be a dance party later today, so some people are already practicing their moves. Elmo arrives and says he'll be doing a super-special one-of-a-kind dance at the party, but he doesn't know what kind of dance to do yet.
	SCENE 1 cont'd	Zoe displays some of her ballet moves (proudly claiming she's been taking lessons for two whole weeks), which leads to a brief cutaway sequence of two members of the New York City Ballet doing the same kind of dance.
	SCENE 1 cont'd	Elmo has fun dancing like Zoe, but he'd rather do his own kind of dancing at the party. Big Bird offers to help find the right one for Elmo to do, and they venture off in search of a new dance.
	Cartoon	Kids and animals alternate in passing letters over themselves, in an alphabet song. Artist: Karen Aqua (First: Episode 3740)
	SCENE 2	Big Bird and Elmo pass Gina practicing a hip-hop dance with some kids (including Tyler), then notice Miles and Gabi playing basketball in the yard. Elmo doesn't think it could be a form of dancing at first, but his imagination results in another ballet sequence, with performers leaping into the air as a sample of "Rhapsody in Blue" plays.
	SCENE 2 cont'd	Elmo thinks he's found a new jump-dance to do at the party, but becomes discouraged when he finds out that Miles and Gabi are already doing the kind of dance he had in mind. He and Big Bird continue their quest for the perfect dance.
	Song	"Jump" (First: Episode 3136)
	Cartoon	A chorus of 5s come out of a 5 painting. (First: Episode 3300)
	Film	Two girls count to 5 as they clap. (First: Episode 3007)
	Animation	"Five Waltzing Chairs" Artist: Jane Aaron (First: Episode 2983)
	SCENE 3	Bob and Linda practice swing-dancing while Elmo and Big Bird continue to look for inspiration. Meanwhile, Telly shares his cookie with Rosita, which makes her so happy she wants to hug him and not let go. Elmo notices them and imagines another kind of dance, which looks like hugging ... the tango, to be exact, which is performed by the dancers in another cutaway.
	SCENE 3 cont'd	Big Bird and Elmo practice the tango, but Elmo soon accidentally gives Rosita the idea to do that at the party.
	Cartoon	Spinning T (to the tango beat). (First: Episode 2933)
	Film	Kids dance with the letter T, which is for triangle. (First: Episode 3271)
	Muppets / Celebrity	The stars join together for a celebrity version of "Sing", including Patti LaBelle, Nathan Lane, Katie Couric, Ben Stiller, Garth Brooks, R.E.M., Maya Angelou, Fran Drescher, Conan O'Brien, Noah Wyle, Rosemary Clooney, Doug E. Doug, Vanessa Williams and Trisha Yearwood.
	Cartoon	A dog, a girl and a lizard dance to a bongo beat. Artist: Karen Aqua (First: Episode 2795)
	SCENE 4	Susan and Gordon practice their dance while Elmo and Big Bird still search for theirs. They notice the Three Bears going for a walk while their porridge cools, which sparks Elmo's imagination again. Three dancers are seen doing a similar motion in a line.
	SCENE 4 cont'd	Elmo thinks it'll be a great dance to do at the party since the Bears aren't planning to do it. (Papa Bear: "We're strictly a Hokey Pokey family.") Baby Bear advises him not to do so, as Goldilocks will likely invade his house if he does it; Mama Bear and Papa confirm that it's happened to the Bear family multiple times. Elmo must keep searching as the Bears leave, briefly considering they should lock their door next time they leave the house... (YouTube)
	Song	"Walk!" (First: Episode 3830)
	Cartoon	Noodles & Nedd Nedd shows Noodles how to do a particular dance. Artist: John R. Dilworth
	SCENE 5	Tarah finishes watering Stinky in the community garden when a sad Elmo and Big Bird approach them. Elmo still can't find an original dance to do. Stinky can sympathize - he's a plant, and plants don't dance. Tarah, however, shows them the kind of dancing she can do in her wheelchair. It's mostly stretching, but that can also be a dance... which is then demonstrated by two seated dancers doing a ballet-esque routine to a score of "Little Things."
	SCENE 5 cont'd	Tarah agrees to teach Stinky to dance in such a way, while Big Bird invites Elmo to his nest to show him his own dance.
	Film	Kids rehearse a large group African dance in the park, get their faces painted, and perform. (edited) (First: Episode 3079)
	Muppets	Grover: Fifteen Seconds On Love — Grover and Rosita have fifteen seconds to talk about love. (First: Episode 3527)
	Animation	A quartet of horns arranges themselves in the proper order to play Beethoven's "Ode to Joy." (First: Episode 3769)
	Film	Wegman's dogs get their exercise by playing baseball.
	SCENE 6	Big Bird puts on his roller skates, and shows Elmo the turning dance he plans to do. The ballet dancers are shown doing the same in a cutaway, minus the skates, to Georges Bizet's Carmen Suite No. 1.
	SCENE 6 cont'd	Big Bird says that dancing his way makes him happy, and gives Elmo the idea to move in whatever way that makes him happy - an "Elmo" kind of dance.
	Film	T is for turning and tired. (Maria voiceover)
	Cartoon	Gordon's Voiceover 'T/t': Two caterpillars form T and t. (First: Episode 2223)
	Film	T on the beach (First: Episode 3540)
	Song	"Front Back Ballet" Artist: Jane Aaron (First: Episode 3016)
	SCENE 7	The party is on! Everyone in the yard is dancing up a storm to a big band version of the theme song. Big Bird arrives and everyone wonders when Elmo's showing up, curious to know what his dance will be like. Elmo finally appears dressed in a fancy jacket, and impresses everyone with his one-of-a-kind original dance, combining stretching, stepping, and sliding movements!
	Muppets	Elmo's World: Singing
	SCENE 8	Everyone continues to dance as Oscar the Grouch announces the sponsors, upset to see everyone having fun... including Slimey, who's wearing a miniature tuxedo! A credit for the ballet dancers is shown, followed by a full credit crawl.