<p>Hi 4kids. Great to hear that! My D also is tops academically and loves to be pushed.
does your d share much about the culture within Atlantic? i’d be curious in how it differs from the other studios. or what they saw in her that had them place her in Atlantic?</p>
<p>we were just discussing that today. I’ll have her answer in a bit.</p>
<p>thanks 4kids! got her response and it was extremely insightful.
all the best for the future!</p>
<p>I’m glad she was helpful. She really does love it.</p>
<p>I’m going to give insight into Atlantic as well as common myths of the other studios… (if anything is wrong please correct me)</p>
<p>Atlantic- I love Atlantic, though at first I was upset I wasn’t placed in NSB, I am now extremely grateful I’m in Atlantic. What I’ve found is that Atlantic is an analysis based studio. We have 3 hours of script analysis a week, and all of our teachers expect that of us. The method, practical aesthetics, is as it sounds practical. It is based on taking aspects of your life, that have never actually occurred, and using them in your acting. The goal of first year is to break down habits in order to find a neutral place to act from, this has usually been described as “break you down, build you back up.” I would say that I feel very fortunate that my teachers both want me to succeed, and want to break down habits, because I would never have been able to live truthfully in the moment if I was as nervous about my habits. Furthermore, Atlantic is not an emotion-based studio, meaning the goal in a scene is not to accomplish some emotional height. It’s about living truthfully, and trying to accomplish an action truthfully, and with the as-if (the personal connection), that is how we connect and are emotional.
I would say that the kids in Atlantic are very smart, and are hard workers. Not to say another studio isn’t perceived this way, but I know Atlantic kids work the hardest. We have the “15 minute” rule, which basically means the teachers want us to be in class, quiet, and ready 15 minutes before it starts. At the time the class starts the doors are closed, and if you are late then you are absent, there are no such things as tardies. That being said, Atlantic drills in you habits that are useful in the real world. Second semester teachers become directors, they will not baby you, if you are doing something distracting in the scene to take away from your acting the teachers will tell you.
By the end of this semester, I love my teachers, and I loved my group. (We switch groups every semester, and the teachers pick them second semester). Some of the teachers are some of the kindest, most supportive, and some are brilliant and can change your whole world view. Acting school not only makes you a better actor, but a better person. If anyone is going to be a freshmen next year- feel free to PM me, or if anyone has any other questions…I love answering questions</p>
<p>As to other studios, here’s what I’ve learned this year:
Playwrights: People think these kids are only playwriting or directing. This is an acting studio as well. First year they are required to take all the fundamentals: design, directing, acting, playwriting. Playwrights does not teach one method, instead they learn a variety of methods, which gives the actor freedom to feel out which method works best for them. Every person who’s in Playwrights LOVES it, it is nurturing, and they get opened up to the entire art form. Theatre is a collaborative art form, and no studio knows that better than Playwrights.</p>
<p>Adler: Adler is considered to be the pretty people and also a great studio. Both of these things are true. Adler seems to differ from Atlantic through the fact that it stresses character, whereas we have slightly different views on character. They also use actions, and tactics, however they are set, meaning if a line is pleading it will always be pleading. This is very useful because in real life directors will set the way they want things said, or blocked, it is the actors job to find freedom within the director’s decisions. Furthermore, they have Shakespeare the first year which is different from most of the other studios.
Strasberg- In essence Atlantic and Strasberg seem the most different, but we are all alike. Strasberg uses the “method.” Essentially they use sense memory which classically is described as “smell the coffee.” (Alec Baldwin graduated from Strasberg). This past year was the first year of freshmen in three years because NYU cut it when they introduced NSB, but they renewed the contract this year. Strasberg does not use analysis, the process to get into a scene is much more about understanding the emotion behind the scene.
Meisner- This studio is considered to only do repetition. However, every studio does something a bit different with repetition, but they are all based on Meisner’s technique. This studio is very small (as is Strasberg and ETW), and to be honest I do not completely understand the way they work (ask someone in Meisner), I watched a scene and basically they do not set anything, but allowed themselves to find freedom in movement and in action. Second semester they begin scenes.
ETW- People assume everyone in this studio gets naked all the time, but it never happens, it is a rumor circulated by the students. ETW is very small, they do not do analysis because their teachers do not want them to have any preconceived notions about the scene, instead they find new moments in the scene every time. ETW is at Tisch, people love it or they hate it, but everyone I know loves it.
NSB acting- These kids are a part of the NSB program, their acting classes are with the MT kids, but the program is very small. I do not know much of it, except that they do not learn a specific method, but use various aspects from all of the methods.</p>