1820. Jonathan Pride, a Boston dance instructor and dance master, is heading off to his aunt's for the weekend, the trip largely to return her umbrella. He is gone longer than expected as as soon he is outside the dance studio to catch the coach, he is abducted by pirates, who force him to work on their ship. He is finally able to escape when the ship docks in Southern California, part of the Spanish Empire, near the village of Los Palomas. The problem he now faces is that everyone in town, including the Alcalde aka Mayor, Don Emilio Pereña, believes he is the captain of the pirate ship despite his protestations that he is a mere dance master. Beyond her want to learn how to waltz, Serafina, the Alcalde's daughter, does believe that he is not a pirate as the two start to fall for each other. Further complications ensue when Captain Don Balthazar and his men arrive from the Governor's office in Monterey, the townsfolk believing to take the pirate captain away to be hanged back in Monterey.
—Huggo