Backstage - Acting Resources > Acting Advice Columns > Acting and Entertainment Job Advice > Acting Schools and Training

ENTERTAINMENT CAREER ADVICE
PROFESSIONAL TRAINING  
For any type of work, you need training. But an entertainment career in acting, especially, requires education and practice because performers must use so much of themselves to create a performance and audition well. Acting advice and feedback are critical elements for actors to improve their skills.

For instance, to play a character onstage, an actor must understand vocal techniques that allow them to be heard in a large or small audience; movement techniques for everything from playing on a raked stage to simple pratfalls or combat; emotive techniques to create the emotional life of the character; and so forth. And that doesn't include singing or dance abilities, if you're working in musical theatre.

All this work takes professional acting advice, training and experience. How to get it varies; some people believe strongly in entering a full university program. Some like conservatories or acting schools. Some prefer private coaches or teachers all are great acting resources.

However you learn acting skills, training is an integral first step in an actor's entertainment career path. And training takes many forms. Beyond the basics of voice and movement, actors are often required to learn everything from stage/film combat, gymnastics, juggling, and improvisation to more pedestrian skills such as driving a car or horseback riding.

But the learning never stops for actors. Beyond learning lines, new skills are always called for. A good actor learns something for, and from, every role. They must listen to every ounce of acting advice they are given.





» College Programs
Learn about the myriad types of college programs available for actors, dancers and singers.

» Private Coaches
Some prefer the special attention accorded by an acting coach. Read here about the pros and cons of having a coach.

» Acting Schools and Teachers
Schools that specialize in acting often offer a healthy environment for actors to learn their craft.

» Studying Overseas
Whether it's Shakespeare in Stratford or Kabuki in Kyoto, the world offers a wide variety of performance-learning opportunities.

» Audition Tips
Learning to make a great impression at an audition takes training and skill. You have to learn it somewhere.

» Speech, Diction & Dialects
Actors don't just act; they speak. And learning to use your vocal instrument for stage or film requires good training.

» Singing
Singing that F sharp requires more than talent. Learning to use, and protect, that voice is one of the more important things you'll need.

» Dance & Movement
Movement is more than dancing the waltz. Everything from stage combat to pratfalls are skills you may need to learn.

BACKSTAGE BULLETINS
Actors: Have You Started a Business?
August 19, 2008
Back Stage would like to speak to actors who have started their own businesses that enable them to keep acting.







Acting Schools & Acting Resources

For acting professionals subscribing to Back Stage makes complete sense in order to gain access to Acting Schools and Acting Resources. It offers a wealth of information to get your career started. From independent acting courses to fully-accredited Film Acting Schools, you can find exactly the type of training you are looking for. Read our Business of Acting section to learn about the best Acting Schools available!
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