Expert: Taylor Sheppard - 1/28/2009

Question
Hello,

I have an 11 year old daughter who has been interested in singing, dancing, and acting for quite some time.  I have encourgaged her to perfect her craft by going to a performing arts charter school and by enrolling her in various courses with out local city such as a singing, dance, and drama classes.  What school or classes should I enroll her in that might further educate her and take her to the next level?  Who do I contact in Arizona or otherwise as she is very interested in doing this on a professional level?

Answer
Hi Sylvia,

It sounds like you are a great, supportive parent!

Along with standard acting classes, an actor can be further rounded by taking improvisation classes (to free the mind and to come up with and make creative choices on the spot), cold reading: which helps you audition much better when having to quickly read and perform a part when you just receive it and must perform it in minutes, character development: which trains you to "flesh out" a character by learning how to identify their traits and way of seeing the world/thinking/behaving in given circumstances, as well as how they are different from you. I always recommend taking classes whenever you can, just to get a different perspective from different teachers.
There are many different styles of acting. I would categorize myself as a "method" actor. There are other devotees of people like Messner and often it is beneficial to take parts of each to find the best way to get where you need to be. There are also casting directors who hold workshops in between projects who can instruct you on the dos and don'ts of how to present yourself to them in audition situations.
I have no specific knowledge locally of Arizona, but networking through theaters as well as agents can afford you that info and should they take interest, they might offer to take her on. I would not approach an agent directly for that, let them ask first! It's considered bad protocol to do so. Normally you would submit a professional headshot and resume with a cover letter by mail and wait for a reply. The resume would consist of her name, schooling, any work done or school plays and special talents, such as skating, dancing, singing, horse riding, sword fighting, hula-hope, juggling, gymnastics, etc.

You can look online for examples...

Best to you!

Taylor