Friday, November 4, 2011

A Safe Place for Vulnerability - Two Year Acting Conservatory

By Maggie Flanigan


The conservatory method is the name most commonly given to the two year acting program in NYC. These two year programs are targeted towards professional actors who recognize their need for continual study and improvement. The practice of a master taking an apprentice under his wing is a tradition long respected by many cultures. Aspiring as well as professional actors seek out this type of program to improve their skills and set themselves apart from the competition.

Any successful actor must realize that they can never know everything. Years of training are the only way to become a "natural" actor. Separating yourself from the distractions in life and dedicating your time solely to study requires dedication and strength. However, when it comes to being an actor in New York, taking the time to study is what will make the difference between hobby and career.

Two year acting programs are a wonderful opportunity to learn the Meisner method. The method requires that students build their skills, starting with the most basic and ending with the most complex. Similar to military training, Meisner training can feel like boot camp. Students have to face the stripping and rebuilding of their identities and beliefs.

Similar to actors, soldiers are required to reform their identity when they join the military during their training period. These two year programs in NYC are designed to teach actors to thoroughly understand themselves on a deeper level. This allows actors to become one with their characters instead of allowing their own emotions to hinder their performance.

Emotions and desires are an integral part of the human person. When it comes to theater, these qualities may not necessarily be an advantage. In order to allow the character to shine through, it is absolutely necessary for actors to be aware of and know how to control these traits.

Unfortunately, actors are prone to falling into poor habits. These habits can partially be addressed in short-term classes. 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. A two year acting program challenges students to bare their vulnerabilities and put themselves under the microscope all in an effort to make them more capable of creating lifelike characters for the audience. 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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