It’s official – I am a ballerina. Of sorts. Last night I completed my first Absolute Beginners ballet class at Farringdon’s Central School of Ballet (http://www.centralschoolofballet.co.uk/), and while I don’t think the English National Ballet are going to be recruiting me any time soon, I managed to not embarrass myself.

First thing’s first – what did I wear? Leggings, a vest and bare feet – I’ve decided not to invest in a pair of ballet shoes until I’ve done a few classes and am sure that I like it and I was assured that I’d be perfectly comfortable doing it without. And so I was. There were a smattering of flippy skirts and leotards on show but my get-up was perfectly acceptable. So far so good.

The class was an hour and a half long. We began with some warm-up exercises before we all spread out along the barre around the edge of the room, and then spent the final 20 minutes back in the centre of the room again. It wasn’t a high impact cardio work-out but it was hard work – lots of repetitive stretching and flexing. I am now familiar with the first, second and third foot positions, my plies leave a lot to be desired but my tendus were acceptable. Yes, it’s a whole other language, but don’t let that put you off – our teacher, David talked us through each exercise step-by-step and walked around adjusting our limbs as we did them. I needed a lot of adjusting. Talented I may not be but I did enjoy it – so next week I’m off to two classes. I’ll let you know how I get on