Performing Arts Courses & Classes in London and Online
City Lit offers performing arts courses in the heart of Covent Garden in Central London during the evening, daytime and at weekends. Explore our range of subjects including acting, (including accredited acting courses), dance, radio and screen, and voice, speech and communication as well as a full range of music courses, such as piano, singing, strings and wind instruments to jazz and pop, music technology, music theory and history
Our courses are labelled clearly for beginners or those with previous experience and you can speak to a specialist advisor to help you choose the right level. If you would you like some help or advice:
For music courses email music@citylit.ac.uk. You can also view our music auditions and advice page.
For drama, dance and speech courses email drama@citylit.ac.uk
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- Great works: Smetana's Ma Vlast
Course start date: Wed 9 Apr 2025Location on this date: Online
Tutors: Katy HamiltonAmong the numerous operas, piano pieces, choral and chamber works composed by Bedrich Smetana, surely the best known is his depiction of the river Vltava from his cycle of symphonic poems, Má Vlast. This session explores the origins of Smetana’s six-movement cycle composed across several years, the stories that he conjures in such vivid orchestral colours, and its meaning for Czech national identity in the later nineteenth century.
This course will be delivered online. See the ‘What is the course about?’ section in course details for more information.Full fee £39.00 Senior fee £39.00 Concession £39.00 - Music history bookclub: The Thorn of the Honey LocustCourse start date: Fri 25 Apr 2025
Location on this date: Online
Tutors: Edward BreenThe music history book club meets towards the end of each term to discuss novels and biographies with musical themes and references relevant to the music history programme.
This course will be delivered online. See the ‘What is the course about?’ section in course details for more information.Full fee £19.00 Senior fee £19.00 Concession £19.00 - Piano/keyboards 5CCourse start date: Mon 28 Apr 2025 (and 2 other dates)
Location on this date: Online
Tutors: Simon AtkinsFor pianists with around four years' experience. Improve your finger technique, coordination, phrasing, music
reading, and your confidence. Break weeks: 6 May & 27 May 2024.
This course will be delivered online. See the ‘What is the course about?’ section in course details for more information.Full fee £199.00 Senior fee £159.00 Concession £139.00 - English pronunciation: stage 3Course start date: Tue 29 Apr 2025 (and 1 other date)
Location on this date: Online
Tutors: David John GwillimDesigned for fluent non- native students and all who have completed 'English Pronunciation' stages 1 and 2. Conversation and the reading aloud of a variety of texts will help to pinpoint those pronunciation worries still to be addressed.
This course will be taught online.
This course will be delivered online. See the ‘What is the course about?’ section in course details for more information.Full fee £259.00 Senior fee £259.00 Concession £181.00 - The art of negotiatingCourse start date: Wed 30 Apr 2025 (and 2 other dates)
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Gavin IllsleyNegotiation is a communication skill essential in solving problems and reaching your goals. Learn to prepare well and to feel confident using logical and emotional tools to achieve great outcomes. The course will be taught in the college.Full fee £129.00 Senior fee £129.00 Concession £90.00 - Piano/keyboards 4BCourse start date: Wed 30 Apr 2025
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Ana Claudia MagalhaesFor pianists with around three years' experience. Improve your finger technique, coordination, phrasing, music
reading, and your confidence. - Singing workshop (contemporary)Course start date: Thu 1 May 2025 (and 1 other date)
Location on this date: Online
Tutors: Colette MeuryContinue your study of singing technique and learn songs in popular music styles of folk, jazz, pop, rock, musical theatre. Live sessions online. Develop your musicianship, and add new songs to your repertoire. New students with experience of singing and some formal training are welcome.
This course will be delivered online. See the ‘What is the course about?’ section in course details for more information.Full fee £259.00 Senior fee £259.00 Concession £181.00 - Piano/keyboards 4CCourse start date: Thu 1 May 2025 (and 2 other dates)
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: David FrankelFor pianists with around three years' experience. Improve your finger technique, coordination, phrasing, music
reading, and your confidence.Full fee £229.00 Senior fee £229.00 Concession £160.00 - Stage and screen: A Midsummer Night's Dream Course start date: Fri 2 May 2025
Location on this date: Online
Tutors: Pauline GreeneShakespeare’s play takes us into a complex world of an aristocratic wedding, a bickering human love-triangle, a blundering group of well-meaning yokels, and above all a shimmering, wondrous realm where the fairy King and Queen play out other-worldly drama, catching everyone else in their gossamer web. With this as our starting-point, we look at how composers, librettists, choreographers, lyricists and filmmakers have interpreted the story in multiple ways, adapting it for their own time and circumstances. Break week: May 30th, 2025.
This course will be delivered online. See the ‘What is the course about?’ section in course details for more information.Full fee £249.00 Senior fee £199.00 Concession £174.00 - Play-readingCourse start date: Wed 7 May 2025 (and 1 other date)
Location on this date: Online
Tutors: Simon BowenCome together with others to explore the work of different playwrights, share the spoken word and gain insight into different plays. These fun and friendly sessions are for people who would like to read and discuss plays under the guidance of a theatre professional. Working in a supportive atmosphere you will read out loud and discuss the main themes of a range of both contemporary and classic texts.
This course will be delivered online. See the ‘What is the course about?’ section in course details for more information.Full fee £149.00 Senior fee £149.00 Concession £104.00 - Using your voice for audio books and talking newspapersCourse start date: Mon 12 May 2025 (and 1 other date)
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: David ThorpeWould you like to narrate audio books? Are you interested in community work such as talking newspapers for the blind? Explore vocal skills and techniques required in these areas and identify what style works for you. This course will be delivered in the college.Full fee £149.00 Senior fee £149.00 Concession £104.00 - Radio and podcast presenting: advanced (online)Course start date: Mon 2 Jun 2025
Location on this date: Online
Tutors: Allis MossThis is an opportunity to take your love of radio to the next level. The course supports you with a tutor-editor to craft a pre-recorded radio programme or extended feature on a subject of your choice, mixing interview clips, music and sound effects into your own production. This course will be delivered online and is supported by a media technician.
This course will be delivered online. See the ‘What is the course about?’ section in course details for more information.Full fee £179.00 Senior fee £179.00 Concession £125.00 - Storytelling (intensive)Course start date: Mon 7 Jul 2025
Location on this date: Online
Tutors: Ariella EshedAll cultures respect the world of Story. The ability to tell Stories, in a variety of settings, is a skill that has seen a strong resurgence, both in the workplace, and in contemporary performance. Gain confidence and experience in storytelling on this intensive summer course.
This course will be delivered online. See the ‘What is the course about?’ section in course details for more information.Full fee £179.00 Senior fee £179.00 Concession £125.00 - Music, sound, and the moving image Course start date: Thu 17 Jul 2025
Location on this date: Online
Tutors: Neil LuckThis course explores key ideas about music for the screen, covering a broad range of examples, techniques, and ideas.
This course will be delivered online. See the ‘What is the course about?’ section in course details for more information.Full fee £89.00 Senior fee £89.00 Concession £62.00 - Great composers: Louise FarrencCourse start date: Thu 24 Jul 2025
Location on this date: Online
Tutors: Trish ShawDiscover the musical life and work of Louise Farrenc (1804–1875), the celebrated French pianist, composer, teacher and scholar. Learn about her delightful chamber music, her important piano etudes, and her impact on French music and culture in the 19th century.
This course will be delivered online. See the ‘What is the course about?’ section in course details for more information.Full fee £39.00 Senior fee £39.00 Concession £39.00
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