Imagine this -

On Monday on the Cape there's a swing group class. 36 people show up. They learn a few fun moves. Then there's an advanced class. A few of the beginning class people stay for advanced; a few others stay just to watch. Most go their ways but enough new faces show up to swell the advanced class' ranks to 24. They fine tune their technique and hang around to dance and practice for a while afterwards. At the end of the day, 48 different people have been enjoying swing dancing right here on Cape Coral.

Fast-forward to Wednesday. Almost the same scene but this time the people are learning Balboa and Bal-Swing. Some of the faces are the same but some are different.

Now fast-forward again, this time to Saturday; here's where the dream really kicks in. Imagine a large venue somewhere in Lee county packed with dancers, dozens and even hundreds of them, dancing to a live band blasting such hot jazz that some of the many attendees don't even dance - they've come just for the music and atmosphere. That is the dream - a gathering of fun people, some young and some old, some dressed in skinny ties or poodle skirts and some in jeans or tee shirts, some dancing well and some far too new to dance well, but all of them happy to meet new friends and learn new things.

Imagine that - a real swing dance at least twice a month, maybe more, where the snowbirds could come during the season but where the real residents could go all year, where the old established types can have some fun but the young and struggling can have fun too, where ballroom dancers can have a Foxtrot right beside the Jitterbugs jumpin' to the jive. And at least half of the dances would be non-smoking non-drinking events so that even kids can come - fun for the whole family.

Now are you ready for the dreamiest of dreams? Dream 2.0 as it were? Here it is - Fast-forward to another Saturday, one in the winter or spring, maybe March. Imagine a Swing weekend with classes and dances and contests. Imagine people coming from the area but also from Tampa and Orlando, and not just Tampa and Orlando but also from Carolina and Atlanta and New York and even Stockholm (Swedes love Swing). Imagine them all coming to enjoy sunny sub-tropical southern Florida for a fun few days of dancing. That is the dream. I mean to build it. But if I build it will they come? Only you can answer that.