The New York Conservatory for Dramatic Arts (NYCDA) is a private acting college in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

. Originally conceived for the purpose of training actors for film and television acting, in 2009 the conservatory gained accreditation to offer

Associate degrees An associate degree is an undergraduate degree awarded after a course of post-secondary study lasting two to three years. It is a level of qualification above a high school diploma, GED, or matriculation, and below a bachelor's degree. The f ...

in Occupational Studies, a two-year curriculum offered in either Acting for Film & Television or Musical Theater Performance. The New York Conservatory is accredited by the National Association of Schools of Theatre (NAST).

History

Actors in Advertising, which grew into the School for Film and Television (SFT) and later became the New York Conservatory for Dramatic Arts (NYCDA), was founded in 1980 by the late Joan See, who was a student of Sanford Meisner. She also founded Three of Us Studios, a successful casting facility. She is the author of ''Acting in Commercials: A Guide to Auditioning and Performing On-Camera''. See began her acting career more than 50 years ago, and appeared in more than 300 commercials. She worked with many actors, including

Julia Roberts Julia Fiona Roberts (born October 28, 1967) is an American actress. Known for her leading roles in films encompassing a variety of genres, she has received multiple accolades, including an Academy Award, a British Academy Film Award, and thr ...

Paul Newman Paul Leonard Newman (January 26, 1925 – September 26, 2008) was an American actor, film director, race car driver, philanthropist, and entrepreneur. He was the recipient of numerous awards, including an Academy Award, a BAFTA Award, three ...

and

Eva Gabor Eva Gabor ( ; February 11, 1919 – July 4, 1995) was a Hungarian-American actress, businesswoman, singer, and socialite. She voiced Duchess and Miss Bianca in the animated Disney Classics, ''The Aristocats'' (1970), ''The Rescuers'' (1977), ...

. See also served as Vice President of the

Screen Actors Guild The Screen Actors Guild (SAG) was an American labor union which represented over 100,000 film and television principal and background performers worldwide. On March 30, 2012, the union leadership announced that the SAG membership voted to m ...

New York City. Joan See passed away in April 2017. NYCDA founded the annual Joan See Memorial Scholarship in 2018. 1996 saw the accreditation of The New York Conservatory by the National Association of Schools of Theatre, and in 2013 the institution began granting an associate degree in Film & Television Performance. In 2018, The New York Conservatory launched a two-year associate degree in Musical Theater Performance. NYCDA's campus is located in Manhattan's Chelsea/Flatiron district.

Academics

NYCDA teaches the Meisner technique, pioneered by American master

Sanford Meisner Sanford Meisner (August 31, 1905 – February 2, 1997) was an American actor and acting teacher who developed an approach to acting instruction that is now known as the Meisner technique. While Meisner was exposed to method acting at the Group ...

. The school offers two-year degrees, which require auditioning, and summer programs, for which auditioning is optional. * Associate in Occupational Studies: Film and Television Performance * Associate in Occupational Studies: Musical Theatre Performance * Associate in Occupational Studies: New Media for Actors * Four-week summer programs worth 6 transferable credits

Notable students and alumni

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Ashleigh Murray Ashleigh Monique Murray (born January 18, 1988) is an American actress and singer. She portrayed Josie McCoy, the lead singer of the band Josie and the Pussycats, on the CW television series '' Riverdale''. Murray reprised this role in the '' Ri ...

Emma Bell Emma Jean Bell (born December 17, 1986) is an American actress, best known for her roles in films '' Frozen'' (2010) and ''Final Destination 5'' (2011), and for playing Amy in the first and third season of '' The Walking Dead'' (2010; 2012), and ...

Ser'Darius Blain Ser'Darius William Blain (born March 10, 1987) is a Haitian-American film and television actor. He is best known for his role as Anthony “Fridge” Johnson in the ''Jumanji'' film series, appearing in the third and fourth entries. Blain is al ...

Ryan Dorsey Ryan Keith Dorsey (born July 19, 1983) is an American actor, known for playing Earl on '' Justified'' and Duquesne “Dime Bag” Baker on ''Ray Donovan''. His personal life, particularly his marriage to Naya Rivera, has garnered significant media ...

* Shelley Hennig *

Vicky Jeudy Vicky Jeudy (born January 23, 1987) is an American actress, known for her role as Janae Watson on the Netflix comedy-drama series, '' Orange Is the New Black''. Early life Jeudy was born and raised in Queens, New York. She is of Haitian descent ...

Manish Dayal Manish Patel (born June 17, 1983), known professionally as Manish Dayal, is an American actor. He is best known for his roles as Raj Kher in The CW hit teen series '' 90210'' as well as in the films '' The Hundred Foot Journey'' (2014) and '' Vic ...

David Del Rio David Del Rio is an American actor, director and producer who has appeared in films and live productions such as ''Pitch Perfect'' and ''Grease Live! ''Grease Live!'' is an American television special that was originally broadcast by Fox on ...

Reid Ewing Reid Ewing (born November 7, 1988) is an American actor and musician known for his role as Dylan in the ABC comedy ''Modern Family'' and as Charlie Plunk in the TV series ''Zeke and Luther'' (2009–2011). Life and career Ewing appeared in th ...

Justin Guarini Justin Guarini (born Justin Eldrin Bell; October 28, 1978) is an American singer, songwriter and actor who in 2002 was the runner-up on the first season of ''American Idol''. Early life Guarini was born in Columbus, Georgia. His father, Eldr ...

Matthew Fox Matthew Chandler Fox (born July 14, 1966) is an American actor. He is best known for his roles as Charlie Salinger on ''Party of Five'' (1994–2000) and Jack Shephard on the drama series ''Lost'' (2004–2010), the latter of which earned him ...

Zulay Henao Zulay Henao (born March 22, 1979) is a Colombian-American film and television actress. She has co-starred in a number of films such as '' Illegal Tender'' (2007), ''Fighting'' (2009), ''Takers'' (2010), '' Boy Wonder'' (2011), '' Hostel: Part II ...

* Carolina Ravassa * Alice St. Clair *

Josh Sussman Joshua Mark Sussman is an American actor, best known for his role as Hugh Normous in ''Wizards of Waverly Place'' and his role as Jacob Ben Israel in ''Glee''. He also had a minor role on the Nickelodeon TV series '' Drake & Josh'' as Clayton. ...

Keith Collins Keith Collins (born September 3, 1976, in Passaic, New Jersey) is an American actor, filmmaker and advocate. He is best known for his work in The Meat Puppet, The Jersey Devil, The Evangelist, and The Samaritans. Collins is a graduate of Clifton ...

Ashlynn Yennie Ashlynn Yennie is an American actress from Riverton, Wyoming. She is best known for her role in the 2009 Dutch horror film '' The Human Centipede (First Sequence)'' and its 2011 sequel. In 2016, Yennie played Ashley in the Showtime TV mini-s ...

References

External links

Official website
{{authority control Drama schools in the United States Education in New York City Performing arts education in New York City Universities and colleges in Manhattan