Rivers of Death (Film)

[1] Rin and Miku are taking dance lessons, but Miku forgets her dance shoes and went off to get them. When Rin arrives, she found that she missed dance class, but the teacher, Paula Abdul, offers Rin's help in choreographing a new dance move. Through each dance moves, Rin learns about certain dance moves from traditional ballet to hip hop dance. By the time Rin and Paula Abdul finish creating their new dance moves, Miku finds her dancing shoes and is ready to dance along with them.

Segments Edit

• Animation: Zoe narrates an animation of a ballet painting by Edgar Degas. (EKA: Episode 4140)
• Big Bird counts 6 "birds," himself and 3 dancers, Tarah, and Snuffy in bird ballet outfits.
• Baby Tooth and the Fuzzy Funk: Caribbean dance (Part 3 only) (EKA:Episode 3136)
• Film: Kids rehearse a large group African dance in the park, get their faces painted, and perform. (EKA: Episode 3144)
• Baby Tooth and the Fuzzy Funk - Chinese dragon dance (Part 2 only) (First: Episode 3390)
• Animation: Hop, shake your head, and wriggle like an octopus. (First:Episode 4030)
• Song: "Get On Up and Move Your Body" (EKA: Episode 3410)
• Cartoon: Noodles & Nedd: Nedd shows Noodles how to do a particular dance. (EKA: Episode 3851)
• Savion plays a rhyming game. (EKA: Episode 2859)
• Animation: Mannequins tap dance in a store window. (EKA: Episode 4050)
• Film: None, some and all of the dancers dance (which Paula Abdul narrates as different kinds of dance). (EKA: Episode 3427)
• Film: Bill Irwin breakdances at a bus stop (edited) (EKA: Episode 3050)
• Song: Dancin' Shoes (played over the credits) (EKA: Episode 2949)

Plot Edit

On the DVD, besides the usual stuff- play story, chapters, and previews... there's also a bonus feature- a brief interview with Paula Abdul, talking about her history with dance and inspirations (she mentions loving "Singing in the Rain" with Gene Kelly as one of her all time favorite dancers- that's cool- he's one of my favs. too- and "Singing in the Rain" is a great movie! And of course, Gene Kelly was also a guest star on The Muppet Show! Just thought I'd point that out. ) And you can hear Paula's thoughts on Zoe and Elmo.

Anyway- on to the plot.

Plot- "Zoe's Dance Moves" title screen comes up on a theater stage with a purple curtain (which, of course, reminded me of The Muppet Show stage!)

-The video opens with Zoe and Elmo about to start their first dance class. Zoe has her pink tutu on and Elmo claims to have his dancing shoes on, but then realizes he's not wearing any and he has to go back and get them. Zoe goes on toward the room for the dance lesson as a bunch of kids come out and go by her. The dance instructor (Paula Abdul) comes and tells her that the class is over. But she's about to work on a new dance and so she asks Zoe to help her with the dance.  Zoe and Paula warm up their bodies first with ballet.  - Jumps to animated drawings of ballet dancers (We can hear Paula and Zoe commenting thoughout all these clips). -Then some live action ballet dancers dance- and Big Bird and Snuffy join them- as well as a girl in a wheelchair (but I don't think it's the same kid that was on the Street for a while as I had first thought.) -Then we jump to a live girl in a dance leotard in a studio dancing. -Then we see a live girl in a dress dancing outside. -Jump to a clip of a live girl dressed in native African wear dancing African style with 2 green, blue and yellow monsters. (These are the same ones that show up briefly in the Sesame Street 25th. Anniversary special) Back in the dance studio, Paula and Zoe work on African dancing. Zoe momentarily gets frustrated because she can't get it- and Paula reminds her that's why they keep practicing. And they move on. - Jump to clip of live kids in African tribal wear dancing in a park. (Zoe and Paula are still commenting throughout) - Cartoon of purple and pink birds dancing to a drum beat that alligator is playing. In the studio, Paula and Zoe now try some Asian dance. (Looks like they've got some "Karate Kid" moves going on!) -Clip of live Asian girl dressed in red, dancing with sticks with those same monsters from before. (Zoe and Paula comment throughout again) -live girls in Asian traditional wear do a dance in a park. -live boy dressed in red dances with a big Asian banner that has a Muppet monster head. (You know, one of those things a bunch of people walk under in those Chinese New Year's parades) Paula and Zoe now try some Silly Willy Nilly dancing. (Zoe's creation) -Jump to clip of live girl and animated purple octopus doing a dance. -live girls and boys and adults do some silly dancing to a song about body part and how they move (and how you can use them to dance) -cartoon of yellow man dancing with purple cat (Man has to keep correcting cat on how to do his dance- and cat keeps throwing in his own version)- (Paula and Zoe resume commenting here) Back in the studio, Zoe and Paula do a bit of tap dancing. -Savion does his rhyming game in a park- doing a bit of rapping and tapping (tap dancing, that is!) -CGI style man and woman dressed in tuxedos do a bit of tap dancing (Paula and Zoe comment again) -live clip of 3 business men doing different dance styles to a hip hop song on a radio one of them has. (In the end, they learn to dance together and wave on the bus when it comes by, choosing to dance to work instead!- I remember seeing this one as a kid- classic! ) Paula and Zoe practice some hip hop dancing as some kids come up and ask to join in. -Jump to live clip of lots of girls and a few men and boys from different cultures and heritages doing different dances. At the studio, Elmo shows backs up with his dance shoes and the kids, Paula, Zoe and Elmo all do their "Everything" dance (this is the dance that Paula and Zoe have finished choreographing) Paula explains how to do all the dance steps- ballet, African, Asian, Silly Willy Nilly Dance (at this point, one of the boys decides to flash us- LOL), tap dancing and hip hop. And they take some time to keep practicing as Paula goes to give individual instruction- and Zoe helps Elmo with the hip hop moves. - Jump to live clip of various male and female dancers who, one at a time, start dancing while others remain perfectly still. (And then they dance together)- (Paula and Zoe are also commenting again during this one) In the studio, everyone is ready to dance! And we get to see the whole thing set to music! (Twice!- On the first time, the camera's on everyone- but on the second time, there's more individual shots.) - End credits roll with the "Dancing Shoes" song playing, featuring Christian Gospel singers BeBe and CeCe Winans. (Look for them, Elmo, Bert, Ernie and the Count all in the video- there's also a kid wearing a shirt pretty similar to Ernie's trademark shirt!) And Zoe pops up one last time at the end of this to remind you that if you want to dance with them again, just go back to the beginning!