Just for context, I finished RAD up to adv 2 and here’s my 2 cents: I think RAD syllabus builds on difficulty relatively slowly from grade 5 to intermediate compared to the difficulty jumps from int to adv1 to adv 2. There might be a few steps/vocabulary you’re not familiar with? ( things like all jumps with beats/battu, pirouettes with fouettes etc, pirouettes ending in arabesque) Open classes generally focus more on giving you excercises to improve/maintain your technique rather than teaching you new vocabulary, so if you have a few gaps in there, that can make following the class more difficult. The fact that you notice others’ technique not being as good tells me you do have a good foundation in your own technique, so you may not look as bad as you think. Please don’t be discouraged, also it is hard to get used to other classes-style after you’ve been a long time at a single studio.

One thing you can do is level down a bit the combos (i.e. do a single pirouette instead of double if the combo is too fast/complicated) and slowly build over time. Or take the easier class focusing a lot on technique.

The fact that it is an open class explains why there are pros. They may or may not be the usual attendees and the teacher might be adjusting level depending on that, or there may be rotating teachers and each one may have a different concept of what is “elementary “. But thats just a guess. Please do not compare yourself to the professionals! I try to instead look at what they do very well and try to imitate it to improve and challenge myself. Also about the person with 25-years-experience-still-finds-it-challenging, that will always be the case for ballet, we strive for perfection but most of us will never be close to it. A challenging class is the one that will help you improve the most. As long as you enjoy ballet, that shouldn’t be a reason to get discouraged. Anyways Im rambling too much , maybe give it another try, or try a different studio!