Baseball took a back seat in Coney Island Saturday night, when Brooklyn Cyclones fans stayed late to recreate Elaine Benes’ gloriously terrible dance from Seinfeld. The annual postgame contest turned the field into a parade of jerky arms, tiny kicks and absolutely no respect for rhythm.
Last night was the annual Elaine dance contest at the Brooklyn Cyclones game 💃
— Wu Tang is for the Children (@WUTangKids) August 3, 2026
Seinfeld Night Fans Stayed Past The Final Out
According to the Dallas Express, 6,578 people attended Saturday’s Seinfeld Night at Maimonides Park, even though the Cyclones lost 6-3 to the Winston-Salem Dash. The postgame dance contest was the real attraction, with clips showing contestants in vintage-looking outfits attempting Elaine’s signature arm jerks and little kicks.
The Brooklyn Cyclones’ official event page had promised a Kramer bobblehead for every fan, and the night delivered plenty of other Seinfeld-themed chaos. The field also hosted themed contests, celebrity appearances and a crowd that apparently considered awkward dancing more important than the final score.
The Elaine Dance Contest Remains The Main Event
MLB.com described Saturday’s promotion as the 12th edition of the Cyclones’ Seinfeld Night, with multiple heats featuring as many as nine dancers. Fans in ’90s-style power suits and floral dresses competed for cheers, while one contestant wearing a Keith Hernandez jersey was reportedly booed by the crowd.
“Nobody has left yet,” Cyclones broadcaster Justin Rocke said as fans waited for the contest, according to MLB.com. That may be the most decisive victory of the evening: Brooklyn lost the baseball game, but the dancers had the stands completely locked down.
How Elaine Created Television’s Worst Dance
The contest recreates Elaine’s company-party performance from “The Little Kicks,” the Season 8 Seinfeld episode that originally aired on October 10, 1996. Mental Floss reported that writer Spike Feresten drew inspiration from watching “Saturday Night Live” creator Lorne Michaels dance at a party, while Julia Louis-Dreyfus developed the deliberately awful choreography.
Louis-Dreyfus later explained that she wanted the movements to look genuinely uncoordinated rather than merely silly. As Cracked noted, she has said she still winces when the episode appears on television, which seems like a fairly strong review of her own work.
Brooklyn Has Been Making Elaine Dance Since 2014
The Cyclones’ Seinfeld tribute dates back to 2014, when the team renamed its stadium Vandelay Industries Park, handed out themed merchandise and held the first Elaine dance-off. Vulture documented that original spectacle, and the annual tradition has somehow only become more committed to celebrating television’s most gloriously uncomfortable dance.
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