Vavavavoom! started as a lavish themed club night with a burlesque cabaret show. It has now developed into a dance theatre company - Vavavaoom! and Immaculate Receptions - which also stage large-scale carnival events and street theatre.

Their latest venture is a new season of dance soirees combining dance class with suave Palm Court-style, live music and DJs.

Think a tea dance at The Ritz on a Sunday afternoon. What could be more glamourous?

The first evening takes place this weekend with a two-hour Argentine tango class, taught by one of the UK's leading teachers, performers and choreographers, Bianca Vrcan. Bianca, who runs Tango In The City in London, will be accompanied by a dance partner to demonstrate the sassy strut of a dance which evolved from the streets of Buenos Aires.

Then, from 7pm until 11pm, a Milonga Dance (a tango party), presents a fantastic opportunity to practise what you have just learned in the previous two hours and have a jolly good knees-up in your glad rags.

There will be live accompaniment from a tango trio and DJs too.

"Be seduced by the allure of Argentine tango and treat yourself once a month to some passionate pampering," purrs the press release. "We encourage everyone to dress up for these occasions and enjoy the unique, timeless glamour of the evening.

Dress to impress and have some fun."

And, just in case you need any more encouragement, it adds: "The tango is the vertical expression of a horizontal desire."

"People love the passion of tango," says tango teacher Bianca, in a thick Montenegro accent. "It is not a happy mood like salsa.

If salsa does not make you smile then there is something wrong.

"But tango is more serious and more intense, more melancholic. It requires concentration as the moves can be challenging," she adds. "Tango is definitely sexy when it is performed correctly but technique is very important. It needs to be learned systematically."

While Bianca is expecting a fair amount of experienced dancers, beginners are also very welcome. For them, she says, "it will require a taster. I hope people will begin to inquire about other tango dance classes in Brighton so they can get into it."

Organiser Stella Starr says the idea for Evenings Of Timeless Glamour arose from her own enjoyment of tango. "I'm a big fan,"

she says, "and there is definitely room for more of it in Brighton."

She describes tango as dark, seductive and agrees it is much slower than salsa, which is uptempo, fast and light-hearted.

She does, however, feel slightly less serious about it than Bianca does. "I think it's great fun," she says. "At least it is when I'm doing it."

Later in the season, Evenings Of Timeless Glamour are also planning to host a Latin Lounge/Cuban Beat Ballroom evening (think mambo/cha cha/rhumba), with music from the Twenties to the Fifties.

This will be led by Dorothy Max Prior, the Brighton-based dance tutor who recently sold out the Spiegeltent twice over during the Brighton Festival with the Ragroof Theatre Tea Dances.

  • Starts 5pm, tickets £10 on the door.