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Worried about bait and switch writers who'll drop a drama bomb in your funny show? Look for dancing, because putting a dancing sequence during the show theme is a good way to indicate your show's overall goal of having fun. It's also a very quick way to show off the entire cast at once and make the Theme Tune more infectious by associating it in your head with dancing.
Because most shows use a more sedate song and static visual for endings, dancing there is usually done with simple — very simple — animation. If dancing is in the opening theme, this is often the most sophisticated bit of animation the show ever does.
An added source of humor is when, for the purposes of inclusion, a completely inappropriate character is included.
Some of these dancing sequences become popular enough that characters from other media are depicted copying the dances in fanwork.
Compare Five Man Band Concert. For the Dancing Theme where they're in kimonos, see Ondo.
Examples
Anime
- The ending credits of Shin-chan have the song Party, Join Us, with an animation of Shin and his dog Whitey doing a strange dance with street signs.
- The Precure Franchise has been running on these for the past 10 YEARS.
- Galaxy Angel Rune OP "Uchuu de Koi wa Rururune".
- The Melancholy Of Haruhi Suzumiya's ending theme, "Hare Hare Yukai,"
 proved wildly popular, spawning countless imitation videos and becoming a hit at conventions. A DVD special takes this one step further, eliminating all of the still-frames from the original ending, producing a single continuous dance sequence that covers the entire ending theme.
- The OP of Lucky Star ("Motteike! Sailor Fuku"), by the same production company, rendered in full in the final episode as a cheerleading routine.
- The ending theme of Lime-iro Senkitan consists of each of the main girls doing a different dance with maracas and shaking their butt. Very repetetive. Very easy to learn.
- The ending theme to the Happy Lesson TV series featured SD versions of the female cast (which is practically the entire cast) grooving along to the music, admittedly with a rather funny sense of timing in places.
- Chocotto Sister ED, the Neko Nyan Dance.
- Detective Conans 8th op has a dancing Conan.
- The second opening for Nichijou has dancing from the main characters.
- Overman King Gainer's OP "King Gainer Over!", with Humongous Mecha doing the monkey just to show the audience that this isn't the usual Tomino series.
- Especially weird in that in many ways it IS the usual Tomino series, with lots of angst, blood and fighting robots. Which makes the opening just seem more out of place (but still awesome.)
- Bacchikoi, the most recent ending of Naruto: Shippuden features the three rookie kunoichi Sakura, Ino, and Hinata dancing to the song. Lee and Guy-sensei eventually persuade Naruto to dance to the theme.
- "Junky Boy", the first Maze Megaburst Space ED.
- Seto no Hanayome's OP "Romantic Summer". Both OVA OPs also have plenty of dancing.
- Keroro Gunsou uses a number of these. Subverted in the ninth ending, "Kurutto Mawatte Ikkaiten"; the characters start out dancing in a line, but about halfway through Kururu gets bored and wanders off.
- The semi-serious Tenjou Tenge has an opening sequence with some of the characters dancing along to the opening theme "Bomb A Head!" by MC A.T.
- "Kokoro Odoru", the second closing theme to SD Gundam Force. For those who are curious, this is a song in Osu! Tatakae! Ouendan (The pottery master stage), a cheerleading game (which of course includes dances).
- Several of the EDs to Urusei Yatsura feature a small figure of Lum dancing in place as the credits roll past.
- The ED of Princess Resurrection (or Monster Princess, depending on who's doing the translating) includes a brief sequence of half-werewolf
Liza Riza Wildman doing a bit of pelvic-thrust dirty dancing.
- Many Pokémon endings feature dancing. Usually, it is the 'mon themselves that dance, but other characters also get into the action in their own ending themes, like Takeshi/Brock ("Takeshi no Paradise") and Team Rocket ("Nyaasu no Party", "Maemuki Rocket-Dan").
- The ED of Paradise Kiss has sketchy, super-deformed versions of all five main characters dancing (and occasionally being chased by motor vehicles) to a song by Franz Ferdinand of all people.
- Moyashimon had dancing and bouncing CGI bacteria in its OP. (No, really.)
- The fourth ED of Get Backers featured more or less the entire cast in a line dance, drawn in South Park/paper marionette style. There wasn't really a surprise character (unless you count Fudou), but they did stick Kazuki with the girls. It was a pretty stark contrast to the previous ED, which was angsty yaoi fanservice from start to finish...
- The first ending of Fushigiboshi No Futago Hime is a rather more sedate ballroom dance.
- Goshuushou Sama Ninomiya Kun's ED "Hooray, Hooray, Pom-Pom!" features dancing in both cheerleading outfits and towels. Can you feel the Fanservice?
- Yakitate!! Japan features afro-clad mentor Ken Matsuhiro disco-dancing in its second ED, "To All Tha Dreamers".
- Rune Soldier Louie opens with a fairly typical "everyone smiles and greets each other, then they fight monsters" opening credits to set up its ensemble of fantasy characters. Then intersperces it with cuts of minor characters in a modern recording studio singing the Theme Song.
- Several OPs and EDs of Haré+Guu had some form of dancing.
- Nogizaka Haruka No Himitsu's ED "Hitosashiyubi Quiet!", featuring the entire female cast in maid outfits set to an actual dance done in Akihabara. Haruka's a secret otaku herself, so it was only fitting.
- Most of the closing themes from Kinnikuman. Niku 2x9 Rock 'n Roll and Kinniku Mambo are probably the best examples.
- Wagaya No Oinari Sama's second ending theme, "Shiawase no Kotodama", has the cast dancing at a festival in Super-Deformed style.
- Rosario + Vampire Capu2's OP, "DISCOTHEQUE". It is, yes, the six girls of the show disco dancing.
- Kannagi's OP, "motto Hade ni ne!", primarily features Nagi singing and dancing on stage. It doesn't have much to do with the actual show, but it looks nice.
- Kemeko Deluxe!'s ED, "Puripurin Taisou", featuring the almost-Gonk-ish Kemeko doing some sort of exercise routine.
- The ending theme of Kodomo no Jikan.
- Macademi Wasshoi's OP, "MOSO Ranbu", has dancing by various characters, most noticeably Tanarot.
- Dai Mahou Touge's OP shows Punie performing an awfully cute little dance (including the YMCA hand gestures at one point), against a background of several well-known Japanese buildings burning bright against the night sky.
- "My Pace", one of the ending themes to Bleach, contains the Filler Arc characters Claude, Nova and Ririn (in their cute little doll forms), along with series mascot Kon, doing a rather psychedelic dance to the incredibly infectious track, intercut with more "serious" still shots.
- The tenth OP, "Shoujo S", has Rukia and Orihime dancing throughout the song. Matsumoto is also shown with them, but mostly during the silhouetted parts.
- "Little Wish ~lyrical step~", the ED of the Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha's first season, has a Super-Deformed Nanoha dancing in place while Yuuno runs around the place.
- The two ending themes for the first season of the ×××HOLiC anime. The first, "Reason", contained Mokona dancing to the second half of the song (it was asleep during the first half), and the second, "Kagerou", consisted of Maru and Moro air-guitaring the song, accompanied once again by Mokona dancing.
- Sengoku Basara's anime adaptation has "JAP", featuring the synchronized hip-hop moves of sengoku-era mooks in the background.
- They brought out the full version, which has since spawned a collection of real life re-enactments and is also performed at live events.
- Here's one of them.
- Despite its serious, romantic themes, Hana Yori Dango (Boys Over Flowers) starts with a peppy, upbeat, '50s-tinged dance number, "Ordinary Sunday (Steppin' Out)".
- The Sakura Taisen TV series has elements of this in its opening, with shots of the cast performing a dance that goes with the franchise theme song "Geki! Teikokukagekidan," which the cast performed at pretty much all their live shows. There's also an ondo version used as the ending theme for a few episodes.
- 200% no Jumon, ED to Tottoko Hamutarou (Hamtaro). So cute dubbers kept it largely intact.
- Dinosaur King had dancing closing themes for both seasons. They were incorporated into the dub openings.
- Subverted somewhat in Dance in the Vampire Bund. The OP features a nearly-naked Mina dancing on top of a factory setting - until a railing breaks and Akira (who's been watching) dashes in and catches her inches from hitting the pavement. Considering how the series progresses, What Do You Mean, It's Not Symbolic? of their relationship?
- Mitsudomoe's OP ends with the entire cast dancing in the schoolyard, with the triplets leading. It's also one of the few anime OPs mostly synchronized to the lips of its singers in the animation.
- Mahoromatic uses very simple dance steps in the 1st ED and 2nd ED.
- Shin Koihime†Musou ~Otome Tairan~'s "Yuuki Rinrin" features lots of Super-Deformed dancing from its Loads and Loads of Characters.
- MM!'s ED, "More-more LOVERS!!", features Mio and Arashiko dancing on stage to the beat, and doing some simple dances against a backdrop before that.
- Soredemo Machi Wa Mawatteiru's OP, "DOWN TOWN", features pretty much the entire cast dancing. It makes a nice compliment to the Five Man Band Concert ending.
- Dragon Crisis!'s ED, "Mirai Bowl" starts off with a Super-Deformed Eriko in a top hat and suit, and by the end features more or less all the main characters.
- Bakugan New Vestroia has Bang! Bang! Bakugan! and Communication Breakdown
- kissxsis features a fun dance by the twins as the ED, which is done in 3D animation opposed to the regular 2D animation style.
- Episode 17 of Macross Frontier featured a one-off opening theme with a Super-Deformed Ranka dancing.
- Both openings and at least one of the ending themes had this in the anime version of THE iDOLM@STER
- Done, quite hilariously, in the 8th ED of Naruto Shippuden.
- Kill Me Baby's ending dance is nearly impossible to replicate in real life. Not that that stops anyone from trying.
- High School D×D has pole-dancing (slightly NSFW) by the girls.
- The first season of Kämpfer has some dancing in the ending theme that is patently impossible for most humans to imitate due to the speed at which the characters move.
- Popotan has two openings, both are pretty much the same, except one has slightly more dancing. dancing dandelions, one of which is shown having trouble keeping up with the others. The opening features the main characters dancing as well, but only briefly.
Fan Works
Film
- All three Austin Powers movies have a dance sequence in the opening credits.
- Psycho Beach Party opens with this and a similar dance to another song is done with the ending credits.
Live-Action TV
- The Bruce Campbell vehicle Jack of All Trades had possibly the best intro sequence ever.
- The ED of several Super Sentai series. Kakuranger, Abaranger (with the Mooks), Dekaranger, Magiranger, Gekiranger, Go-onger (this one in several different versions), Goseiger and Go-Busters all have this type of theme.
- Kamen Rider Den-O's "Climax Jump" shows the main Imagin cast dancing on the corners of the screen at the end of the song.
- In the Lizzie McGuire opening, the chracters dance and play with balls. (That was not supposed to sound that way.)
- The Drew Carey Show, which used three different Real Song Theme Tunes.
- Chou Sei Kantai Sazer X ED. It falls somewhere between Dancing Theme and "exercise routine."
- Ryukendo turned its first OP into a Dancing Theme for the final episode.
- Strangers with Candy ended every episode with a dance party. Yes, this includes the last episode.
- The best known is the "King of Glory" liturgical dance solo by Stephen Colbert - what fewer people know is that this ended a two-parter about a dangerous cult.
- The Cosby Show had several intros for different seasons, and all of them had the main characters do a short dance.
- The Armstrong And Miller Show
- The end credits of Bottom features the silhouettes of the main characters Eddie and Richie dancing, which, predictably, ends in violence.
- The Telemundo Spanish Soap Opera Perro Amor has a dancing intro.
- Each intro from Blossom included her doing very 80s-90s dances with a big goofy smile on her face through the whole thing. And while the first season was just one long shot, it expanded into several small vignettes over the years.
- The opening titles of the sixth and seventh series of British sitcom 2Point4Children had main character Ben dancing in the foreground, with the rest of the cast dancing across the screen while holding hands behind her.
- The opening titles of season two of Moonlighting did this.
- In the first seasons of Nickelodeon Guts, if an Aerial event was on first, you could see the spotters doing a synchronized dance of sorts on the Aerial Bridge.
Toys
- The Monster High line of dolls's theme song qualifies. Points for it being a live action dance with the dolls themselves as animated characters inserted into the dancing sequences.
Video Games
- Plants vs. Zombies ending featured every single character in the game dancing. Despite the fact that most of them are plants and don't have legs. But they try.
- The Ankh point-n-click adventure game.
- Monkey Island 2: LeChuck's Revenge had Guybrush trying to scare away some monkeys that were determined to dance all the way through his serious, dramatic intro.
- Kwik Snax for the ZX Spectrum had an intro showing Dizzy and his egg-shaped pals playing in their band.
- The Playstation 2 game God Hand had most of the characters (friend and foe) dancing in the ending credits.
- Although not full dancing themes, the opening sequences for both Touch Detective games feature scenes of Funghi dancing as a clue that their presentation as serious detective dramas shouldn't be believed.
- Kirby does a short dance at the end of every level, usually splitting into 3 clones.
- Not quite a theme song, but the door-opening dance from Mother 3 has to be seen to be believed. Trust me, you will never laugh harder at an old man shaking his butt.
- There is actually a fan-made Flash animation of Kumatora doing the same dance
- The second and third Disgaea games. The second doesn't have a full dancing theme, but the third makes up for that in spades with an opening that probably owes something to Thriller.
- The entire point of Elite Beat Agents.
- Space Channel 5 does this. A LOT.
- Bayonetta has an after-credits scene like this.
- Final Fantasy X-2 had Yuna actuality Leblanc Disguised as Yuna singing and dancing on stage for its opening.
- The Updated Rerelease for Video Game/Persona4 (entitled Persona 4: The Golden) was given a new opening sequence with the main characters dancing to upbeat j-pop. Pretty cheerful for a game centered around a bizarre, supernatural murder mystery.
Western Animation
- Family Guy uses this.
- As does the introduction for South Park seasons 14-15 (during Stan and Kyle's lines in the theme song, due to it being a Title Montage, they use a clip of "Do What You Wanna Do" from "Elementary School Musical", with the lip syncing reanimated because of the theme song being sung).
- The Simpsons does this with one of its couch gags.
- The opening of The Backyardigans uses this, too.
- However, singing and dancing is the Backyardigans' entire premise.
- The second season of The Charlie Brown and Snoopy Show has a dancing theme.
- Lilo & Stitch: The Series does this, showing several characters hulaing in the beginning credits. Including Cobra Bubbles, wearing a grass skirt on top of his suit.
- KaBlam!!, and even the short, Life with Loopy.
- The Bugs Bunny Show had him and Daffy doing an on-stage song-and-dance intro (in the style of the cartoon "Show Biz Bugs") - the sequences between cartoons were all set 'on stage'.
- The opening of Unsupervised shows the four main characters dancing to a hip-hop beat.
- The Real Ghostbusters used this for the ending theme, with a Tickertape Parade for a backdrop. The move in question was taken from the original Ghostbusters theme's offical music video, where musician Ray Parker Jr. and the actors of the movie did the same half-walk, half-dance.
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