Walk into Scottish Ballet’s headquarters in Glasgow any day of the week and you will hear a piano and see people milling around in loose clothes and leotards. Sometimes they are the company’s dancers, but it is increasingly likely that they are members of the local community taking advantage of the activities on offer.

Scottish Ballet’s education department prides itself on offering dance for all. Students aged eight to 80 attend classes at the West Princes Street studios and now the company is adding two dance groups to its programme: Cre8 for five to seven-year-olds and Elev8 for over-16s.

The impetus for establishing all the in-house companies came from Scottish Ballet’s successful summer schools. Innov8, for the eight to 12s, and Motiv8, for 13 to 16-year-olds, were started four years ago to take over in the months after the summer schools stopped. Ever since then Lorna Pickford, the company’s head of education, has been inundated with telephone calls from parents anxious to get their under-eights into a class.

“The company for five to seven-year-olds is at grass roots level to get children interested and enthused about dance,” she explains. “This class provides not only technique but an opportunity to be creative.”

Creativity will also be at the fore of Elev8, which will be part-led by Maxine Railton, a freelance dance artist and choreographer. She is well aware of the need for a group of this sort in Glasgow. “Performance opportunities are limited in Glasgow for the 16-plus age group,” she says.

“When children are younger they go to dance schools or they take part in things like that where they have an opportunity to perform. By the time they have left school there is very little for them to get involved with. They fall half-way between the children’s classes and the adult classes.”

The focus of Elev8 will be different from the classes for younger age groups. The main aim will be to create a performance. “I see that very much as a collaboration,” says Ms Railton. “I’ll be inviting and encouraging their ideas.”

The type of performance will depend on who is accepted from audition, she explains. “Some might come from a more technical background in classical ballet; others may come from a more creative background. I would like to encourage a mix in the group.”

Children do not have to be a member of a dance school to apply for any of the classes, but if they are older than eight, they will have to audition. It is not as fearsome as it sounds; they will not have to prepare a piece to perform.

“It is a class environment rather than an audition,” says Ms Pickford. “We try to make it as fun as possible. If someone is enjoying dancing, that’s good to see. If we can recognise potential in them we would accept them.”

Most of all, “enthusiasm and commitment”, particularly commitment to attend weekly classes in term time, are essential.

All Scottish Ballet’s classes provide a grounding in a range of styles, as do classes at City Moves in Aberdeen, the Scottish Dance Theatre in Dundee and Dance Base and Scottish Youth Dance in Edinburgh. Ms Pickford acknowledges the good work being done across Scotland in those organisations and smaller dance schools, but is keen to point out that Scottish Ballet is offering something she regards as unique.

“The link towards the company’s repertoire is crucial because that is the definitive factor that makes Scottish Ballet’s classes different,” she says. “The in-house dance companies are not just about a weekly dance class; they are about a sense of ownership of the national company. They come along to dress rehearsals, dance in professional studios and receive tuition from Scottish Ballet staff.”

However, none of the classes is designed as training schemes for budding ballerinas, but that does not mean that outstanding talent will go unnoticed. Robert Doherty is a dancer with Scottish Ballet whose talent was spotted 12 years ago in an outreach workshop. “I certainly wasn’t talented on the dancing side,” he says. “I just shone through because I showed enthusiasm about what was being taught.”

He is certain there are others like him and would encourage anyone to apply. “There is so much hidden talent out there. If it could happen for me, it could happen for a lot of people.”

Deadline for applications to classes is May 27. Auditions will be held in June. Contact the Scottish Ballet education unit, tel 0141 331 2931