Acting | Academic Requirements | Courses | Faculty

The Acting B.F.A. Program

The Professional Actor Training Program is a four-year sequential course of study in acting—voice, speech, movement for actors, dramatic literature, and history of the theatre, supplemented by offerings in stage combat, performance improvisation, Alexander training, Lecoq technique, acting for camera, makeup, and audition technique. The schedule is rigorous; in a typical week, a student works directly with faculty members for 27 to 40 hours and spends a comparable amount of time in preparation.

• The first two years of training focus on the development of the actor’s imagination and an exploration of his or her inner resources as they relate to the external demands of the craft.
  
  
• During the third and fourth years, classroom work broadens to consider the elements of style and modes of behavior in various historical periods and in different media. During these last two years, the student is continuously engaged in rehearsal and public performance. The productions provide a wide range of experience, from the contemporary to the classic, and are directed by visiting professionals as well as experienced resident faculty.

The Acting B.F.A. Program is one of four in the nation that meets the standards of the Consortium of Conservatory Theatre Training Programs. In the fourth year, those actors who (in the collective opinion of the faculty) are most representative of the four years of a conservatory training program are presented under Consortium auspices to an invited audience of more than 300 agents, producers, and casting directors in New York City and Los Angeles.

Updated July 31, 2008