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
- Storytelling: tell your personal storyCourse start date: Sun 11 May 2025 (and 1 other date)
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: John EastmanTell your own personal story to others, and in so doing gain some perspective on how past events have shaped your life and how they will affect your future, while at the same time inspiring and informing others about life choices. The course will take place in a safe environment in the college.Full fee £229.00 Senior fee £229.00 Concession £160.00 - Acting for wellbeing
Course start date: Tue 3 Jun 2025Location 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. - Beethoven: an introduction to his music Course start date: Tue 3 Jun 2025
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Edward HendersonLudwig van Beethoven is one of the most important composers in the Western classical canon. Come and discover more about this most famous of Austro-German composers on a short introductory course.Full fee £149.00 Senior fee £149.00 Concession £149.00 - 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 - 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 - Exploring the music of Richard StraussCourse start date: Tue 16 Sep 2025
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Katy HamiltonFrom the heady waltzes of Der Rosenkavalier to the awe-inspiring opening of Also sprach Zarathrustra, come and delve into the life and works of the brilliant – and controversial – composer and conductor, Richard Strauss.
Full fee £269.00 Senior fee £215.00 Concession £188.00 - Listening to the 20th century 1Course start date: Tue 16 Sep 2025
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Edward HendersonUsing Alex Ross’s 'The Rest is Noise' as a guide, we'll investigate art music in the first half of the 20th century. This module covers Mahler’s last symphonies, fin de siècle Paris and the Ballet Russes, and Expressionism and the Second Viennese School. Break week: 28 October 2025.Full fee £269.00 Senior fee £215.00 Concession £188.00 - Dance 60+Course start date: Tue 29 Apr 2025 (and 5 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 - Storytelling for business and pleasure 1Course start date: Tue 29 Apr 2025 (and 3 other dates)
Location on this date: Keeley Street
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 greater confidence in your communication skills and apply this to your wider experience. This course will be delivered in the college.Full fee £229.00 Senior fee £229.00 Concession £160.00 - Play-readingCourse start date: Tue 28 Oct 2025
Location on this date: Keeley Street
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.Full fee £159.00 Senior fee £159.00 Concession £111.00 - Great works: Mendelssohn's OctetCourse start date: Tue 2 Dec 2025
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Katy HamiltonStudy the history and form of this famous work in a short, enjoyable music history class.Full fee £29.00 Senior fee £29.00 Concession £29.00 - Great musicians: Berio and BerberianCourse start date: Tue 2 Dec 2025
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Trish ShawComposer Luciano Berio and singer-composer Cathy Berberian were the power couple of contemporary music in the 1950s and 1960s, collaborating to discover new sounds and musical techniques and structures in works from Tema: Omaggio a Joyce and Sequenza III to Stripsody.Full fee £59.00 Senior fee £59.00 Concession £59.00 - Michael Tippett: an introduction to his musicCourse start date: Tue 13 Jan 2026
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Katy HamiltonMichael Tippett was a British composer like no other, with interests in everything from Purcell and Beethoven to rock music and American spirituals. Come and discover the life and works of this unusual, brilliant, witty and beautiful musician.
Full fee £149.00 Senior fee £119.00 Concession £104.00 - Listening to the 20th century 2Course start date: Tue 13 Jan 2026
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Edward HendersonUsing Alex Ross’s The Rest is Noise as a guide this course investigates art music in the second half of the twentieth century. This module covers the music of the Cold War culture wars, American experimental music, Minimalism and the use of technology. Break week: 17th February 2026.Full fee £269.00 Senior fee £215.00 Concession £188.00
Can't see a course you want?
Add this category to your waiting list to set up alerts and we will update you when new courses are released online.
Add me to waiting list