There is a robust array of performing arts education options in the Big Apple. New York University offers both a classical performing arts conservatory and a wealth of theory, history and criticism study, or try your hands (or feet) at NYU’s dance program. Columbia University offers it all—acting, playwriting, dramaturgy, and producing, and its music department gives a thorough training for that spectrum of performing arts. For more focused training, you could try the two year program at the Circle in the Square Theatre School, the only training conservatory associated with a Broadway theatre. Or for a combo of traditional training and cutting edge performance, try the Neighborhood Playhouse School of the Theatre.
As you would expect, establishing a performing arts career in New York can be a test of perseverance. It's the biggest city with the strongest competition, but there are jobs out there, and there are more to come. For instance, job growth for actors is expected to be 10% through 2012, 4.1% for producers/directors, 11.3% for dancers, for choreographers 7%, and for musicians and singers 14.9%. To give some perspective, with over 8,500 musicians and singers employed in NYC in 2004, job growth of 14.9% equates to over 1,200 new jobs.
|
