Opera house’s song and dance to kick children’s screen habit

THE Royal Opera House will combat the nation’s “addiction” to screens by offering opera and ballet classes for children as young as three months.

The Covent Garden opera house, which has undergone major restructuring to make it more welcoming, will put on events for youngsters including “Opera Dots” and “Ballet Dots”, interactive workshops for the under-fives.

The building will be open every day from 10am for theatre crafts, tea dances

and a look at costumes from operas and ballets.

Oliver Mears, the director of opera, said: “People are addicted to their screens. There is a hunger for real live experiences and that’s something we can offer in a way that perhaps no one else can in the UK.”

Jillian Barker, the director of learning, added: “We will give you that chance to sing, to make, to do, to dance. We feel there is a real responsibility on us to open up our art forms.”

The programme launch includes the opening of the new Linbury Theatre.