Imitated the big bird after hours and started dancing (8)
I believe the answer is:
emulated
'imitated' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'the big bird after hours and started dancing' is the wordplay.
'the big bird' becomes 'emu' (I've seen this before).
'after hours' becomes 'late' (I've seen this in other clues).
'and' is a charade indicator (letters next to each other).
'started' suggests taking the first letters.
The initial letter of 'dancing' is 'd'.
'emu'+'late'+'d'='EMULATED'
(Other definitions for emulated that I've seen before include "Rivalled" , "Tried hard to be as good as someone" , "Imitated" , "Male duet strove to equal" , "Tried to equal or copy" .)