There is something so infectious about a dance sequence that, even in movies and TV shows in which they occur pretty much out of nowhere and, in theory, should not work, they still do in most cases. In fact, some of the most iconic and beloved numbers in pop culture history do not even come from titles categorized as musicals. Step back in time and review the following most cherished examples of the like.
Napoleon Has “Canned Heat” (Napoleon Dynamite)
While most of the dialogue is extremely quotable and Jon Heder’s title character is a one-of-a-kind instant comedy icon, if you ask me, the moment that 2004’s Napoleon Dynamite won audiences over is its centerpiece dance sequence. In a last-ditch effort to help his best friend, Pedro (Efren Ramirez), win class president, the nerd busts out some absolutely ridiculous, yet passionate, dance moves in an impromptu routine set to Jamiroquai’s “Canned Heat,” which earns a roaring round of applause from his classmates.
beloved TV sitcom, How I Met Your Mother, Barney Stinson (Neil Patrick Harris) contemplates whether or not he should give up his suits forever in order to score with an attractive bartender who hates men in business attire. He then imagines an elaborate song and dance number professing his love for his wardrobe called “Nothing Suits Me Like a Suit,” featuring the rest of the snappily dressed cast.
best romantic-comedy movies of its time. Tom Hansen (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) is so high on cloud nine after starting up a romance with Zooey Deschanel’s title role that he imagines the local townspeople are joining him for a brief dance set to Hall & Oates’ “You Make My Dreams Come True” during his morning commute.
unsettling moments from American Horror Story masterfully utilize the power of juxtaposition, like in one of the most dazzling moments from Season 2, subtitled Asylum. After receiving shock therapy, Sister Jude (Jessica Lange) hallucinates that she is performing a rendition of Shirley Ellis’ 1964 pop hit, “The Name Game,” with her fellow patients at Briarcliff Manor.
The Big Lebowski is home to two of the most iconic movie dream sequences, with the second one easily taking the cake as the most wonderfully uproarious. Knocked out by Jackie Treehorn, The Dude (Jeff Bridges) imagines he and Maude Lebowski (Julianne Moore) are the stars of an adult film shot in the style of a Busby Berkeley dance number.
Tom Cruise became a movie star? I like to think that occurred in 1983’s Risky Business when the future Oscar nominee, as Chicago teen Joel, with the house to himself, celebrates his independence by dancing and lip-synching to Bob Seger’s “Old Time Rock and Roll” in his underwear.
Spike Lee prepares you for an unforgettable and subversive cinematic experience with an unforgettable and subversive opening to 1989’s Do the Right Thing. The opening credits play over Rosie Perez’s character, Tina, dancing solo to Public Enemy’s “Fight the Power,” making for a certainly unexpected and moving way to start a film with a lot to say about society.
The Office when Jim (John Krasinski) and Pam (Jenna Fischer), the wedding party, instead of the traditional walk down the aisle, dance to Chris Brown’s “Forever,” which was originally written as a Doublemint Gum commercial. While this act goes against the couple’s wishes, it goes down in history as a memorably unique way to start the ceremony.
musical moments from a horror movie comes from 1988’s Beetlejuice. Hoping to scare the Deetzes (Jeffrey Jones and Catherine O’Hara) and their dinner party guests out of the house, the lingering spirits of Barbara (Geena Davis) and Adam Maitland (Alec Baldwin) use bodily possession to manipulate them into dancing and singing to Harry Belafonte’s “Day-O (The Banana Boat Song).” Much to their surprise, they enjoy the experience.
told from the perspective of ghosts who have passed away on a midwestern high school campus, where they struggle to cope with the parameters of their afterlife. Wally (Milo Manheim), who was a star athlete in the 1980s, lets off steam by putting on a vinyl copy of David Bowie’s “Let’s Dance” and leading his fellow ghostly friends in a wonderfully choreographed groove through almost the entire school.
Best Picture Oscar winner, 2008’s Slumdog Millionaire, ends with an upbeat dance number set to the Academy Award-winning original song, “Jai Ho” and led by Dev Patel and Freida Pinto as Jamal and Latika. It might have been surprising to some audiences to see this production suddenly include such a sequence, but it honors a longstanding tradition in Indian cinema.
greatest high school movie ever made, despite never taking place during school, but a Saturday detention shared by five teens who each represent a different rung of the teen social hierarchy. The unlikely friends attempt to break up the monotony with an impromptu dance to “We Are Not Alone” by Karla Devito.
Stephen King movies with scenes that leave you feeling invigorated and hopeful, but that is the general response to the centerpiece dance sequence in 2025’s The Life of Chuck, from writer and director Mike Flanagan. Tom Hiddleston’s title character crosses paths with drumming street performer, Taylor (Taylor Gordon), and spontaneously lets the music drive him, even inviting a random young woman named Janice (played by Annalise Basso) to join him, giving a crowd of bystanders the show of their lives.
acclaimed kids movie, Shrek, Smash Mouth’s cover of The Monkees’ “I’m a Believer” plays during Shrek (Mike Myers) and Fiona’s (Cameron Diaz) nuptials before Eddie Murphy’s Donkey takes over the vocals, leading the wedding guests in a breathless celebration of the event.
best episodes of Brooklyn Nine-Nine, Amy Santiago (Melissa Fumero) goes into labor in the police station during a city-wide blackout. In a hilarious effort to keep her calm and distracted, Lieutenant Terry Jeffords (Terry Crews) and Captain Holt (Andre Braugher) try dancing to Salt-N-Pepa’s “Push It.”
actors portraying uproarious versions of themselves) meeting up in the afterlife, where they celebrate their ascent into Heaven with the Backstreet Boys, who also appear as themselves to perform “Everybody (Backstreet’s Back).”
Community Season 3 begins with Jeff (Joel McHale) daydreaming about a dance number, featuring the entire cast of characters, with a hopeful outlook on the next year at Greendale.
David’s Three-Way Dance Battle (Legion)
In the Season 2 opener of FX’s unconventional Marvel Comics adaptation, Legion, one of David’s (Dan Stevens) memories of the past year shows him at a club where the mutant engages in an intense dance battle with Lenny (Aubrey Plaza) and Oliver (Jemaine Clement).
Lucifer Is Alright (Lucifer)
The series finale of Lucifer opens with the Devil Incarnate (played by Tom Ellis) leading an upbeat ensemble dance sequence set to Kenny Loggins’ “I’m Alright,” which starts at a bar before transitioning to the police station, where Lucifer and Detective Dan (Kevin Alejandro) reenact an iconic moment from Dirty Dancing.