Groundwork: Learning Tango
The Groundwork class (now running in Taunton (Somerset) and Newton Abbot (Devon)) is designed to help people learn tango quickly and easily yet thoroughly. I am giving the participants a solid understanding of the basic underpinnings of tango instead of presenting a multitude of snippets from the "finished product". Without strong basics, one will never be a good dancer. With a thoroughly established base, however, it becomes easy to dance to the music and share the experience with a partner through the unique tango embrace. The "advanced moves" become possible only with the groundwork done, and with solid basics they even become easy.
Tango is special. The music and dance of tango speak to us about the human condition. Tango is about life, and allows us to share who we are as genuinely as we allow it.
Tango is not what you see in shows or on television in that show. What you see there is made "to sell tickets", as one of tango's great dancers put it. Real tango is between you and your partner. Come and learn it now and see where it takes you.

To see real tango - tango de salón - in its proper environment (the so-called milonga), have a look at these youtube videos:
Céline Dévèze and me at a festival in France: here
The milonga "El Beso" in Buenos Aires: here
A very crowded milonga in Buenos Aires: here

So what do you learn?
The most important thing in tango is the embrace (which is the rather unique close embrace of the milongas, not the flexible or open embrace of the stage), which establishes the connection between the dancers, ideally transforming the two dancers into "one body with four legs." A prerequisite for a good embrace is the proper posture, and this will also allow a nice walk, which is what tango is mostly concerned with - it is, at heart, walking in an embrace. Based on this, we will explore how to dance to the music in various ways and how to lead and follow precisely and easily. We will keep it simple, because otherwise you'd be concerned with moving instead of dancing. At the end of the course, you will be able to visit a milonga (tango dance event) and dance with anybody you choose, having fun in the process.

So what if you have been learning tango for a while?
This course is about social tango for the milongas. It is not concerned with memorizing figures. What you will learn is solid basic skills, proper walking, and how to dance comfortably in close embrace, and to the music. Your skills will multiply.
And also, participation in the Groundwork Level 1 class is the entry requirement to more advanced courses in Taunton and Newton Abbot. Without these basic skills, you couldn't benefit from the more advanced classes.

This is some feedback from the first groundwork course in Taunton, from people who have been dancing tango before:
"Your teaching method is brilliant!"
"I learned more in these 7 weeks than in the 7 years before."