You’ve yearned to unleash your inner Mark Ballas or Edyta Sliwinska — or do Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” dance with hundreds of your neighbors. Or you’re seeking low-cost, low-pressure dance education for your child.

The City of Redmond’s Parks and Recreation Department understands. There’s no shortage of opportunities to kick up your heels this fall at the Old Redmond Schoolhouse Community Center (ORSCC), 16600 NE 80th St.

New social dance instructor Teresa Osborn has studied and lectured with “Dancing With the Stars” (“DWTS”) judge Len Goodman. She’ll offer ballroom, Latin, Country-Western, rock ‘n’ roll and swing classes for adults, as well as “Disco Diva” classes for children. She’s also organizing a “Thrill The World — Tribute to Michael Jackson” event to take place at Redmond Town Center on Oct. 24.

Also new at the ORSCC, tap specialist Pauline Hubbard was a competitive dancer at Kathy’s Studio of Dance in West Seattle and later taught dance at University of Washington. She’s offering classes for beginner, intermediate and experienced adults.

Terrel Lefferts, a returning instructor at the ORSCC, has expanded her range of classes for children and adults in ballet, tap, jazz, lyrical and hip-hop styles. She also teaches “Dance Play” movement classes for toddlers.

At the ORSCC, you can dance just for fun, for exercise or to make new friends in a non-competitive, non-judgmental environment.

“COME DANCING”

A native of Great Britain, Osborn moved to Redmond from the East Coast last year. She has danced since the age of seven, when she got hooked on the BBC series “Come Dancing,” a forerunner of “DWTS.”

A protegee of Peggy Spencer, whom she described as “the queen of dancing in England,” Osborn also has lived in Hong Kong where she created dance fitness programs for public and private schools and taught dance to police officers as part of their physical conditioning.

Describing Len Goodman as “a lovely man,” Osborn said she loves the attention that “DWTS” has brought to dance as both an art form and a way to stay fit. She is the dance representative for the Northwest Association of the American Alliance for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance.

REAL DAWGS DANCE

Hubbard, a seven-year Redmond resident, started dancing at age five and minored in dance at UW. Among her memorable experiences were teaching ballet to Husky football players — to help them build strength and agility.

“They got a good, tough workout,” she said.

Hubbard has a Master’s degree in education, is also a licensed massage therapist and loves sharing her tap expertise with kids of all ages.

“I can’t listen to music in the car without thinking of choreography,” she enthused. Her favorite tunes are from the 1950s and ’60s, “and I could do a whole recital with a ‘Grease’ theme.”

She’d like to start an after-school dance club at a local elementary school, to encourage both boys and girls to give it a try.

DANCE FOR ALL AGES

Lefferts has lived in Redmond 12 years and taught at the ORSCC for eight.

“My classes, first and foremost, are fun and supportive,” she stated. “I believe in taking each child as they are, accepting different personalities, different needs. Some want to jump right in, others are shy and want to just watch for a while. Even some adults are that way.”

During Lefferts’ classes for very young students, parents are welcome to stay and interact. She also tries to keep requirements for kids’ attire and behavior reasonable and relaxed.

“They don’t have to buy hairspray, the really young ones can have bare feet — they don’t need certain color shoes or leotards,” she said. For recitals, she might choose an inexpensive dress at Target for all the girls to buy. They’re allowed to personalize their looks with different accessories.

Not all children want to, or can, become professional dancers. But Lefferts urges parents to look at dance training, particularly for young children, as “preschool prep,” since they’ll learn to take turns, share space with others and follow instructions.

For middle school or older kids, benefits of dancing include physical fitness, forming close friendships and “a sense of accomplishment, from working toward something that is challenging.”

Lefferts described her adult classes as “like a Girls’ Night Out for me — it’s a lot of people who have danced with me for eight years, a lot of moms whose kids took lessons from me. It’s ballet, jazz, lyrical, a little bit of everything at different levels. You can work at your own pace or adapt if you’ve had injuries.”

For information about these and other dance classes at the ORSCC, pick up a Redmond Recreation Guide, visit www.redmond.gov or call (425) 556-2300. Some fall classes are already full. Others may be cancelled if enrollment is low, so don’t delay to sign up.

“THRILL THE WORLD”

Osborn is one of many dance enthusiasts throughout the world participating in an effort to break a Guinness Book of World Records record for the most people ever performing the classic “Thriller” dance simultaneously. See www.thrilltheworld.com.

If you’d like to participate, contact Osborn at teresa@ teresaosborn.com. She’ll provide free lessons on how to do the moves and will ask participants to make a donation to a local charity, as yet to be determined. Redmond Town Center has offered space for the actual performance at 5:30 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 24. No dance experience is necessary. Osborn hopes Town Center merchants will get into the act, too, “even dressing as zombies.”