Swing dance workshops Jan. 12

Duke Gardens' swing dances have been so popular that we decided to go a step further and offer an afternoon of swing workshops preceding our next dance on Jan. 12. The dances and workshops are part of a new Health & Wellness Series that also includes yoga for beginners.

The workshops will be taught by the fabulous Wesley Boz and Debbie Ramsey, of Mad About Dance Academy.

Each workshop will be an hour long, and they will run from 1-5 p.m. Beginners who would like to attend the 8 p.m. dance that night should also plan to take advantage of Wes' one-hour beginner East Coast swing lesson at 7 p.m., which is included in the cost of dance admission. That beginner lesson will be different from what's taught in the workshops, but it will all work together for you.

Please see our website for full information about the evening dance and lesson.

The workshops will be as follows:

1 p.m.: Slow Blues Basics
Learn the basic elements of this popular dance style, including connection, rhythm and musicality.

2 p.m.: Charleston Kicking Patterns
Add some more spunk to your basic East Coast Swing with a dash of high-energy Charleston. 

3 p.m.: Slow Blues for Experienced Dancers
Move beyond the basics of the popular blues dance style, using your existing dance abilities to dig deeper into connection, rhythm and musicality.   

4 p.m.: Advanced East Coast Swing Patterns
Take your swing dancing to a whole new level.

Cost: $18; $16 members of Duke Gardens, Carolina Dance Club or Triangle Swing Dance Society.
Multi-class discounts: $32/$30 for 2 workshops; $42/$38 for 3 workshops; $48/$44 for all four workshops.

Pre-registration required. Parking included.

Buy tickets: To charge tickets by phone, please call 888-21SWING. Tickets may also be purchased in person at Duke Gardens (cash/check only).

Gardens info: 919-668-1707. Sarah P. Duke Gardens, 420 Anderson St. gardens.duke.edu.