Dancing Fools

Summary
Mrs. Molina is a teaching a dance class for kids, and it creates the opportunity for some unlikely dance pairings: Muffy and Binky, D.W. and the Tibbles, and, most unlikely of all, Francine and George. Will anyone survive the class?

Plot
At the start of the episode, we see Arthur and his family attending the Elwood City dance competition. Arthur narrates that two people can do things better than one can. Backstage, we see two figures preparing to go onstage. The two walk onstage and are revealed to be Francine and George. They smile at the crowd.

Several months earlier, Francine is attending school when Muffy walks up and declares that she has signed both of them up for dance class. Francine doesn't want to go at first but Muffy says she owes her, plus she'll get them hockey tickets. Francine agrees. After school, they visit the dance class where they are split up in pairs. Muffy gets Otis, while Francine gets George. D.W., in the background, tries to dance with the Tibble Twins, but they keep stepping on her toes. Francine and George start to get better while Muffy and Otis get worse.

The next day at school, Arthur mentions that D.W. told him that she saw Francine and George in class. George shyly runs away while Buster begins to tease Francine. Francine threatens him until she is distracted by Muffy who says they will be returning to dance class that day. In the playground, Binky asks George what he's learned in dance class, but George suggests that Binky joins the class himself. Later at dance class, Muffy pairs up with George but he's horrible with Muffy. Meanwhile, Francine is paired up with the newly joined Binky, who refuses to cooperate. Francine and George eventually get paired up again, and soon become the best of their class.

Weeks later, Mrs. Molina announces that the annual Fred and Ginger dance awards are coming up and she choose George and Francine over Binky and Muffy to represent the school. Muffy runs outside crying. Binky talks to her and they discuss how much they're jealous of George and Francine. They soon decide that George and Francine can't participate in the contest and scheme to break up the couple.

The next day, Binky lures George into a dark alley where he tries to annoy George with no results. At the same time, Muffy gives Francine hockey tickets that are on the night of the competition hoping it'll cause George and Francine to cancel. George and Francine turn down the tickets, and continue to practice. For two weeks Muffy and Binky try to get them to drop out with no luck.

Finally the night of the Fred and Ginger awards arrive. Binky and Muffy attend the competition so they can heckle the couple. We once again see George and Francine walk onto stage and smile to the crowd. They start to dance gracefully shocking Muffy and Binky. Francine and George stumble costing them some points, but finish perfectly. The award however is given to another couple and George and Francine get second place medals.

Muffy and Binky apologize, and Muffy says has signed Francine up for fashion class. Francine shouts as Muffy is driven off, but her frown soon turns into a smile.

Major

 * Francine Frensky
 * George Lundgren
 * Muffy Crosswire
 * Binky Barnes

Minor

 * Arthur Read
 * Buster Baxter
 * Mrs. Molina
 * Otis
 * D.W. Read
 * Francis Haney
 * Timmy and Tommy Tibble (Does not speak)

Cameo

 * David Read
 * Jane Read
 * Unknown Female Rabbit (Number 5)
 * The Brain
 * Sue Ellen Armstrong
 * Fern Walters
 * Unknown Female Cat
 * Leah MacGrady
 * Prunella Deegan
 * Carl (dancer)
 * Nigel Ratburn
 * Paige Turner
 * Chelsea
 * Oliver Frensky
 * Neil Lundgren
 * Bitzi Baxter
 * Jenna Morgan (fantasy)

Trivia

 * This is perhaps the only time in the series that George enters a competition and does not score first place.
 * When Francine says she can't go to the hockey game, Muffy tells her she'll have to take Jenna, despite her hating hockey.
 * This episode and The Making of Arthur premiered the same day as PBS Kids' 3 original series Super Why, Word World and Word Girl.

Cultural references

 * Binky's dance in the dark alley is a combination of Techno, Tap dance, and Break dance.

Episode connections

 * As George is walking up to Binky in the street, there is a poster for: 'The Hiccup Kid Part 3', referencing "Arthur vs. the Piano" and referencing to what D.W. said in "Hic or Treat".
 * Muffy wears an outfit similar to the one in "You Are Arthur" during the dance lessons.

Errors

 * At the start of the episode, Arthur and his family are attending the Fred and Ginger Awards, but later they are not seen in the audience. But they were seen exiting the auditorium.
 * After the duo win second place, George says that he's never won anything before. However, in "To Beat or Not to Beat", he always wins the talent show just by hopping on a pogo stick and he wins many other awards.

Home video
DVD:
 * Arthur: Season 11


 * Arthur's Dancing Fools