A Safe Place for Vulnerability - Two Year Acting Program in NYC A Safe Place for Vulnerability - Two Year Acting Programs

By Maggie Flanigan


Two year acting programs are commonly known as the conservatory approach. These two year programs are targeted towards professional actors who recognize their need for continual study and improvement. The tradition of a master training an apprentice has been in practice for centuries. In NYC, student actors who are looking to improve themselves in their craft should certainly consider a two year program.

Learning never ends for true actors. When an actor appears to act without trying, it is a sure bet that they have spent years training. Great strength and dedication is required of actors who decide to focus years of their lives solely to improving in their art. In order for professional actors to separate themselves from the hobbyists, two year acting programs are a must.

The Meisner technique fits in quite nicely to two year acting programs. This method is a sequential one, meaning that the students first learn basics and then build their skill sets from there. Meisner training can have almost a boot camp feel. Students have to face the stripping and rebuilding of their identities and beliefs.

The goal of military training is to repurpose the soldier's identity around the military. These programs draw actors out of themselves so that they are better able to analyze their thoughts and beliefs. This allows actors to become one with their characters instead of allowing their own emotions to hinder their performance.

There is no such thing as a person who is not at least partly controlled by compulsions, emotions, and desires. When it comes to theater, these qualities may not necessarily be an advantage. Acting requires that actors understand their personalities and be able to control them so as to better portray their intended character.

Unfortunately, actors are prone to falling into poor habits. In short classes, actors might be able to partially address these habits. However, two year programs are far more successful in doing so because the actors have more time to break down their bad habits and build better ones. Correcting bad habits and forming new ones is not an easy chore and doing so requires that the actors make themselves vulnerable and truly bare their souls and true personalities. Creating relatable characters for an audience is the goal of the two year acting program and, in order to do so, actors must be willing to strip away their tough exterior to reveal and analyze themselves as they truly are. Coaches in quality two year programs work with the student actors to help them to rid themselves of their poor habits and build better ones, allowing them to create better characters and work well with the other actors in the production.




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