James, the dog, had wanted to dance in the ballet since he was a puppy and devised a plan to upstage a no-talent wolfhound for the part of the hunting dog in the performance of "Giselle."

Second-grade best friends Ivy and Bean beg for ballet lessons, then, when they are cast as squids in their first recital, scheme to find a way out of what seems to be boring, hard, and potentially embarrassing.