Adult classes

A third of the adults in our evening classes have never danced; a third danced as children and stopped; a third are parents who got tired of sitting on the bench. All of them were nervous the first week. The classes are taught as proper classes, not keep-fit with music, and nobody is asked to do anything in front of anyone until they want to.

Beginners' ballet on Tuesdays at 7:30pm is the biggest adult class and the one to start with: barre work at a pace that explains every position, centre work that stays on two feet for the first term, and a teacher, Nerys or Sian, who corrects kindly and often. Leggings and a T-shirt, bare feet or socks for the first few weeks, ballet shoes when you decide you are staying. Improvers' ballet on Thursdays is for returners and for beginners after a year: longer barre, turns, small jumps, and pointe for the few who have the feet and the patience.

Adult tap on Mondays at 8pm is taught by Lisa from the beginning: time steps, shuffles, the first rhythms, and by Christmas a routine. It is the most sociable class in the building and the one with the most laughing. Adult street on Wednesdays at 8pm with Marcus is foundations, grooves and a routine over the half term, for anyone from twenty to sixty who wants to move to music they actually listen to.

Pay £9 on the night, or buy ten classes for £75 which last six months and work for any of the four. A parent with a child on the £95 unlimited pass can add themselves for nothing, which is how most of the parents ended up at the barre. There are no exams unless you want them; a handful of the ballet adults take RAD grades and one took Grade 5 at fifty-eight with a distinction.

The adult classes finish by nine and the studio is yours for ten minutes after to stretch. Changing rooms, lockers and a kettle. Four or five adults are in the July show every year in their own number, which is optional, terrifying and, by every account, the best night of their year.

What is included

• Beginners' ballet Tuesday 7:30pm; improvers' ballet Thursday 7:30pm
• Adult tap Monday 8pm; adult street Wednesday 8pm
• £9 on the night, ten for £75, or free with a family unlimited pass
• The first class free, nothing to buy for it
• RAD and ISTD exams if you want them, never if you do not
• An adult number in the July show for anyone who dares

What it costs

£9 a class on the night, ten classes for £75 valid six months, or included in a family's £95 unlimited pass. The first class is free. Nothing is added. The timetable has every class with its spaces, the term dates and the prices side by side; the exams and shows page has the dates.