Get there about a quarter of an hour ahead of the time on your ticket, to be at the front of the line of people waiting to be taken up to the studio. The seating is bleacher seating (fixed benches). You enter the studio from the right, so go straight over to the left side and sit in the front row near the door. That's where the dancers come in and you can wave to those you know, or those you wish you knew - they are very friendly and usually return a greeting. The piano will probably be over to the right.

The ballet master/mistress will ask you all to be quiet as mice and switch off your mobiles, but you may applaud at the end of class. Class begins with exercises at the bar, then moves into the centre with more and more action as the class progresses - this gets very exciting. I think class usually ends with adage, and lasts about ninety minutes to two hours. You probably don't know whether you are seeing boys in class, girls in class, or mixed class. When company class first opened to spectators you could choose, but so many people wanted to see the boys that the box office has stopped announcing which class it would be!

It's fascinating to listen to the ballet master/mistress's instructions, and the pianist is quite amazing. In fact, the accompanist is the unsung hero of most ballet classes, probably playing about sixty numbers in the course of class, and all joined quite seamlessly.

Enjoy - and do please post a message afterwards.

Congratulations indeed! I'll be there myself.

Class as you will have seen, starts at 10.30 am. However, having attended many such classes in the past year my advice would be:-

Get to the Opera House no later than 9.30 am and queue in the public queue from the Covent Garden Piazza side of the house as those doors are opened first.

Doors open at 10.00 am. Ignore the instructions from staff to stand on the right when inside as this is the public queue for day performance tickets and tour tickets.

Go instead past the Box Office and flourish your ticket at the attendant near the cloakroom area, then go up the stairs and take the escalator to the amphitheatre bar, turn right and go to the far end of the bar.

Queue again(!)and show your ticket to enter the Clore which is even further upstairs. As it's good weather it'll be warm inside the studio. It's necessary to queue as seating on bench style seats is unreserved and it's my experience that some of the people who attend are themselves mildly interested in ballet and will kill to get a good seat.

Enjoy

Martinjay