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
- Improve your speaking voiceCourse start date: Thu 20 Feb 2025 (and 3 other dates)
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Giles AbbottImprove the quality of your voice and standard of speech through relaxation, stance, breath capacity/control, articulation, forward placing and expression. This course will be delivered in the college.Full fee £149.00 Senior fee £119.00 Concession £104.00 - Using your voice for audio books and talking newspapersCourse start date: Mon 24 Feb 2025 (and 1 other date)
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Giles AbbottWould 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 £179.00 Senior fee £179.00 Concession £125.00 - Electronic music: a brief historyCourse start date: Tue 25 Feb 2025
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Edward Henderson, Trish ShawFrom the sound you phone makes to wake you up in the morning to pop, club music and concert music – electronic music is everywhere an available to everyone. This course tells the story of electronic music from computers as big as rooms in the WDR studios in Cologne to GarageBand on your iphone and the music that was made along the way.Full fee £129.00 Senior fee £103.00 Concession £90.00 - Introduction to musicalsCourse start date: Fri 28 Feb 2025
Location on this date: Online
Tutors: Pauline GreeneFrom Showboat to Hamilton, this course surveys key examples from the history of the modern musical and examines the way different styles of music, dance and words work on stage.
This course will be delivered online. See the ‘What is the course about?’ section in course details for more information. - Contemporary African danceCourse start date: Sat 1 Mar 2025 (and 1 other date)
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Francis AngolA dynamic and vibrant class that combines West African dance and music with some Contemporary dance influences. The movements, energy and music will leave you energised and rejuvenated.Full fee £99.00 Senior fee £99.00 Concession £69.00 - Acting for wellbeingCourse start date: Tue 4 Mar 2025 (and 1 other date)
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Juliet PragueIncrease your physical and emotional wellbeing through playful and fun acting exercises. Connect, take notice, be active, learn new skills, become more present and engaged with others using tools drawn from actor training.Full fee £129.00 Senior fee £103.00 Concession £90.00 - Choral singing for pleasureCourse start date: Mon 28 Apr 2025
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Richard Hartley WilsonWhether you’re a beginner or have some experience, this choral class will give you something to look forward to on a Monday. We sing many genres from musical theatre to pop plus more traditional pieces. This course is very popular, so booking early is essential. Break weeks 5th & 26th May 2025. - Choir at lunchtimeCourse start date: Mon 28 Apr 2025
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Richard Hartley WilsonCome and spend your lunchtime singing a range of music, in interesting choral arrangements. It's good for the mind, body and spirit. Sing music from across all genres, have fun and leave with a spring in your step. There's no better pick-me-up at lunchtime! Break weeks 5th & 26th May 2025. - Storytelling for business and pleasure 1Course start date: Tue 29 Apr 2025
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: John EastmanAll 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 greater confidence in your communication skills and apply this to your wider experience. This course will be delivered in the college. - Contemporary dance: beginnersCourse start date: Tue 29 Apr 2025 (and 1 other date)
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Orley QuickThis Contemporary dance class is a dynamic and fun experience based on the principles of Release-technique and some playful explorations. Simple movement phrases and tasks are built upon to develop greater awareness of the body in space and in relation to others. Floor, centre and travelling exercises lead to efficiency of movement, rhythmical and free-flowing dance sequences.Full fee £199.00 Senior fee £159.00 Concession £139.00 - The art of negotiatingCourse start date: Wed 30 Apr 2025 (and 1 other date)
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 - Storytelling for business and pleasure 2Course start date: Wed 30 Apr 2025
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Ariella EshedExploring ways of telling stories with language, physicality, gesture and rhythm, solo and in groups. Telling brief stories has also become a strong component within the world of Business, so we shall examine the way ‘story’ can be used in talks, presentations, lectures, and more informal settings. This course will be delivered in the college and end with a presentation to an invited audience. - Stage and screen: A Midsummer Night's DreamCourse 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 - Dance 60+Course start date: Tue 29 Apr 2025 (and 2 other dates)
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Francis AngolJoin our weekly dance and movement classes to improve mobility, posture, balance and coordination. Our aim is to inspire older men and women to get creative with dance and movement.Full fee £179.00 Senior fee £143.00 Concession £125.00 - Speak Shakespeare monologues and scenes: comediesCourse start date: Wed 7 May 2025
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Vernon ThompsonWhether you are preparing a Shakespearean monologue for audition or simply have an interest in their structure, rhythm and poetry, this course enables you to work on and speak monologues from the Comedies with confidence. There is also an opportunity to rehearse duologues/ scenework from A Midsummer's Night Dream and Much Ado About Nothing specifically. This term the course is held at the college with an opportunity to practise speaking text in the open air.
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