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
- Acting for radio and podcast dramas: improversCourse start date: Wed 11 Jun 2025 (and 1 other date)
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: David GoodersonExplore microphone techniques and demands across different areas of acting work in radio and podcast dramas. For those who have completed a beginners’ course or have previous relevant industry experience. This course will be delivered in the media studio.Full fee £249.00 Senior fee £199.00 Concession £174.00 - Charleston: general level
Course start date: Sat 14 Jun 2025 (and 2 other dates)Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Rosaria SativaThe Charleston is a fun, easy and uplifting dance and this solo dancing course will have you moving with speed, vitality, and expression. With toe tapping Jazz music from the 1920s and beyond you will learn original Charleston dance steps and moves, improve your musicality and improvisation. A great way to get fit whilst learning a unique and impressive new skill.Full fee £99.00 Senior fee £99.00 Concession £69.00 - Great albums: Kind of Blue Course start date: Tue 8 Jul 2025
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Albi GravenerDiscover everything you have always wanted to know about this extraordinary recording, one of the most critically acclaimed but also commercially successful in the history of jazz.Full fee £29.00 Senior fee £23.00 Concession £20.00 - Tap intensive (beginners)Course start date: Tue 15 Jul 2025 (and 1 other date)
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Benjamin BaileyIf you are new to tap then this is the place to start. An intensive course suitable for students of all ages with good general fitness. Tap shoes are essential.
Full fee £59.00 Senior fee £59.00 Concession £59.00 - 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.Full fee £89.00 Senior fee £89.00 Concession £62.00 - Summer choirCourse start date: Mon 21 Jul 2025
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Richard Hartley-WilsonSinging with others is great fun, and has been proven to be good for your health. Join us for this short course and get started over the summer to see how it can benefit you. Suitable for all levels, no audition required. - Classical music: an introductionCourse start date: Mon 21 Jul 2025
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Pauline GreeneAre you interested in finding out more about classical music but not sure where to start? This taster course will introduce you to the history of music through a careful choice of works. - Actor summer school: beginnersCourse start date: Mon 21 Jul 2025
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Sean Croft, Juliet PragueThis is a five day intensive encounter with the acting process. Designed for beginners to explore the fundamentals in a safe and supportive enviroment. Also suitable for those with some prior experience wanting to refresh and focus their skills. - Singing for absolute beginnersCourse start date: Wed 23 Jul 2025 (and 1 other date)
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Katherine StrohmaierStart your journey as a singer this summer with this short, enjoyable course. Take your first important steps towards a healthy vocal technique and confidence in your singing.Full fee £69.00 Senior fee £69.00 Concession £48.00 - Great composers: Louise Farrenc Course 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.Full fee £39.00 Senior fee £39.00 Concession £39.00 - Opera appreciation: an introductionCourse start date: Thu 24 Jul 2025
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Pauline GreeneWhat is opera? And how do you approach watching and listening to it? Explore the ostentatious, sometimes overwhelming, world of opera through study of two major works and styles.Full fee £69.00 Senior fee £69.00 Concession £69.00 - Piano taster Course start date: Wed 30 Jul 2025 (and 1 other date)
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Ana Claudia MagalhaesA fun introduction to the piano: learn the basics about the instrument, names of the notes and where they are, and how to play some simple tunes. Find out whether piano is the instrument for you!Full fee £29.00 Senior fee £29.00 Concession £20.00 - Music history bookclub: My Tango with Barbara StrozziCourse start date: Fri 1 Aug 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.Full fee £19.00 Senior fee £19.00 Concession £19.00 - Great works: Beethoven's Symphony No 9 "Choral" Course start date: Tue 5 Aug 2025
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Katy Hamilton, Trish ShawBeethoven’s monumental ninth symphony, first performed in 1824, has had an enormous impact on western classical music and on wider European culture. How did Beethoven come to write this work, and what does this symphony still mean to us two centuries after its first performance?Full fee £39.00 Senior fee £39.00 Concession £39.00 - Great composers: Gilbert and SullivanCourse start date: Tue 5 Aug 2025
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Katy HomdenCreators of arguably the most popular and enduring opera in the English language from the 19th century, this course will introduce you to Gilbert & Sullivan’s musical legacy via biographical study and operatic highlights. tutor: Katy HomdenFull fee £59.00 Senior fee £59.00 Concession £59.00
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