Atlantic Acting School provides professional acting training in NYC to students pursuing Bachelor of Fine Arts degrees in acting at the prestigious NYU Tisch School of the Arts, Department of Drama. Our signature three-year program equips students with a concrete acting technique, extensive performance experience, and essential professional skills for careers in theater, film, television, and new media.
Consistently ranked among the best drama programs worldwide by Backstage and U.S. News & World Report, and listed in the top 3 of The Hollywood Reporter’s The World’s 25 Best Drama Schools, Atlantic offers unparalleled training in Practical Aesthetics. Join a community of dedicated actors and access world-class opportunities that set the stage for lifelong success.
Students will train in the heart of New York City at one of the top-rated acting programs in the world, where they will master the art of Practical Aesthetics, produce their own work, and perform on Atlantic’s Off-Broadway stages.
The first year provides a solid foundation in the Atlantic Technique. Learn to analyze scripts, develop character through action, work truthfully moment-to-moment, and apply fundamentals of stagecraft to acting. The curriculum includes instruction in a disciplined approach to script analysis, working truthfully moment-to-moment, and bringing these competencies together in performance of the material. Working as an ensemble to produce studio work, actors gain collaborative skills which foster independence and afford the greatest growth for the group as well as the individuals who compose it.
Core courses: Script Analysis, Moment Lab, Performance Technique, Voice, Speech, and Movement
After the first year, consider the three-week, intensive Summer in Vermont program. NYU students can earn 4 points of credit by registering through the university.
Year two focuses on applying the Atlantic Technique to broader genre and media-specific work. Work with film and television scripts, Shakespeare, Chekhov and other classical material, and comedy. Expand your range by rehearsing challenging contemporary material that requires accents, physical adjustments and high-stakes performance. Second year actors engage in advanced questions about the technique’s employment and begin to appreciate the way it can best serve their unique creative needs as artists. Students rehearse and perform an evening of one-act plays as an exercise to synthesize their training.
Core courses: Advanced Script Analysis, Advanced Performance Technique, Film, Chekhov, Shakespeare, Comedy, Voice, Speech, and Suzuki/Viewpoints.
This is a performance year, where students refine their acting training in NYC through sophisticated productions and business preparation. Master classes in scene study, movement, On-Camera, and auditioning introduce actors to working artists and form a bridge to the professional world while continuing to provide critical support in advanced skills-building. The pinnacle project allows students to create their own work through the formation of a theater company, culminating in a fully student-produced production.
Core courses: Advanced Acting, Advanced Suzuki/Viewpoints, Production Rehearsals, Company, Business, Casting, and Equity Principal Auditions/Monologues.
Admission to our NYU program is handled entirely by New York University. More information about the Department of Drama, Undergraduate, including instructions on how to apply, can be found on the department’s website.
Atlantic is the home of Practical Aesthetics, a technique outlined in the world-renowned A Practical Handbook for the Actor—our foundational source for...
The goal of the first year is to provide students with a set of physical habits that complement those learned in Script...
The Suzuki Method is a rigorous physical and vocal discipline for actors created by Tadashi Suzuki and his company. Drawing on a...
In Moment Lab, actors explore their potential to “act before they think.” They are readied to dive into the given circumstances of...
The first semester of the acting conservatory program focuses on creating a strong, flexible instrument to support active choices by employing Chuck...
Students learn to deepen their understanding of specificity with on-camera study. Students perform scenes in front of the camera and then watch...
In this course, students examine the current landscape of the New York theater scene, investigating the artistic climate of Broadway, Off-Broadway, Off-Off...
The Laban/Bartenieff principles are used to explore, describe and analyze movement to promote physical clarity and specificity. The class is designed to...
Professional Casting Directors examine how on-camera acting differs from acting for the stage. Students are videotaped as they work on prepared material....
A technical approach to Shakespeare immerses students in the nature and practice of poetry. Students learn to revolutionize the imagination and to...
The first year of the acting conservatory program includes an introduction to the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) with a concentration intentional and...
This course varies in topic from semester to semester, though its focus is always on a specific, uniquely demanding style in theater,...
– Bella, Class of 2020
– Zack, Class of 2020
– Olivia, Class of 2020