Go to acting class! Take voice lessons! Improve your dance moves! Learn how to juggle while doing a handstand and yodeling! Truly, an NYC-based performer’s education is never ending. But the Google search results for classes are also never ending. And spending your hard-earned survival cash on a disappointing class is one of the worst feelings in the world.
That’s where we come in. We’ve compiled a list of the best places in New York City for classes of every variety: dance, acting, musical theatre, and audition prep. Keep reading to find the class that will transform your next audition from “God, I hope I get it” into “God, I think I’ve got it!”
Top Dance Classes in NYC
From hip-hop to musical theatre, BDC has options for everyone. Drop in to a class or audition for their professional semester for a more intense course of study. Whether you’re more of a step-touch groover or a bonafide Dancer First, levels range from basic to advanced, so you’re sure to find your tempo.
Can’t make it to Midtown? Wary of the ever-evolving variants? Check out BDC’s livestream and OnDemand classes (if you’re lucky enough to have space to dance in your NYC shoebox, that is)!
“Up a steep and very narrow stairway…” A Chorus Line lyrics may ring through your head upon visiting Steps on Broadway, but the three flights of stairs are worth it.
Their variety of styles and levels rivals that of BDC, but keep your eyes peeled for Steps’ special programming like the Spotlight Series and Pro Work Sessions. Remarkable industry professionals are regularly scheduled to teach (and take class!) and have more knowledge and wisdom in one LaDuca than you’ll know what to do with.
If you “don’t go above 14th Street” but still want high-quality dance training, consider Peridance. Exposed brick studios (ooh, aah) welcome dancers of all levels and ages. They’ve got every style you could ask for and you’ll feel especially at home if your home base is Contemporary.
There’s a black box theater on the premises too, if you’re in need of space to rent for your next groundbreaking work-in-progress.
Top Acting Classes in NYC
1. Stella Adler Studio of Acting
A school that touts “growth as an actor and growth as a human being are synonymous” as a core belief, the Stella Adler Studio has oodles to offer.
Their part-time workshops for acting technique, scene study, and on-camera work are the perfect place to add a few shiny new tools to your acting kit. Most meet once a week so they fit right in to your busy schedule.
Gym class was always an exciting part of elementary school — we got to play, explore, fall down, and get back up again. Now you can have that but as a grown adult actor!
Offering monthly small group classes for scene study and speeches or one-on-one coaching, you’ll receive all the attention you desire (and isn’t that what actors really dream about?).
If you’re trying to become the next Meryl Streep (and who isn’t), on-camera acting technique classes will likely be your friend.
The Kimball Studio’s weekly “combo” classes focusing on on-camera training and their “Ballistics” technique are just what you need to find the sparkle that brings you to life on screen. After these classes you’ll finally be able to book that guest spot on Law and Order: SVU.
Best Musical Theatre Classes in NYC
A community-focused space, The Barrow Group provides course programs in several disciplines (acting, writing, directing, film, specialty) as well as free (yes, you read that correctly) artist development series.
For those of us more inclined to burst into song, they offer classes specializing in acting through song as well as a musical theatre scene study course. After all, what is musical theatre performance but acting while “screaming in cursive”?
Offering classes in about as many disciplines as you could imagine, the HB Studio is a historic one-stop shop built on the continuation of a performer’s training while still living a full and busy life.
If you’re not quite ready to commit to an intensive musical theatre training experience, HB Studio offers a selection of term-length weekly courses to gently wade into acting and singing for musical theatre, rather than completing a full swan dive.
Best Audition Classes in NYC
1. T. Schreiber Studio and Theatre
With a mission to support new voices, it comes as no surprise that the T. Schreiber Studio offers several audition classes. Each focuses on a different type, including one for how to successfully self-tape — where was that when we needed it in 2020??
To help you book the jobs you’ll now audition so magnificently for, investigate their other offerings for Meisner technique, scene study, on-camera work, and more!
Among script analysis classes, a slew of Meisner technique courses and conservatories, and specialty classes like Stage Violence, you’ll find audition classes to book whatever your agent submits you for.
At The Acting Studio you can perfect your newest audition monologue, learn the tech behind self-taping, take advantage of their self-tape services (no more finding out you weren’t centered in the frame only after doing a perfect take), or even prep for BFA/MFA program auditions.
Decisions, decisions…
We’ve laid out the list for you, now you’ve got to do the hard part: deciding! But perhaps even more difficult is figuring out how to fund these resume builders (man, no wonder we’re “starving artists”, sheesh).
If you need to pad your bank account to pay for class and have a job flexible enough for you to take said class, check out Worthwhile Event Services today!
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