Dearing Acting Studio
Kid improv class in Phoenix · Ages 5 to 11
Kid Improv
When you relax, you can listen. And when you listen, you know what to do.
Month to month. About a minute to sign up, and the day is already chosen.
Great improv should look, sound and feel like a play you rehearsed, memorized and blocked.
Scene work from a premise, environment and physicality, character creation, the long-form improv play.
What’s included
- Three classes a month, 80 minutes each
- Every class recorded to their private actor portal, to watch their own progress
- A showcase every quarter, with a one-on-one evaluation
- Month to month. New students start the first class of the month
- An approved use of Arizona ESA funds
The why
Why there are no levels.
Mastery-level training means the perspective of never-ending growth. A kid in their first month and a kid in their fifth year can be in the same class, and both leave better. Nobody gets the same note.
Why we teach listening.
Acting is reacting. The skill under every scene is listening at a high level. The same skill is under every conversation a kid will ever have, with a teacher, a friend, a parent.
Why every class is on camera.
We believe in the game tape. The teaching is recorded, the class is recorded, and the recording lives in their private actor portal.
The curriculum
We hold ourselves to the same standard we ask of our students: constant and never‑ending growth.
As we grow, the curriculum grows with us. If there is a better way to teach it, that is the way we will teach it.
What Improv covers over a year
- Listening and truthful reaction
- Scene work from a premise
- Environment, physicality, who, what and where
- Character creation
- Long-form improv plays
“Actors must be free. This is the easiest thing to say, and maybe the single hardest thing to do.”
This season’s dates
Two classes, two days. The Wednesday class and the Friday class each meet three times a month; pick one when you sign up.
Wednesdays4:15 to 5:35 PM
- October 7, 14, 21
- November 4, 11, 18
- December 2, 9, 16
- January 6, 13, 20, 27
Fridays12 to 1:20 PM
- October 9, 16, 23
- November 6, 13, 20
- December 4, 11, 18
Intensives
Kids and teens · One week in June
Valleywood Movie Camp
An original movie. Kids and teens audition, film and premiere it, all in one week.
Why we train the way we do
We are the club sports of acting.
Rec league is fun, and it has a purpose. Club is fun too, but the focus is different. Club is where you go to get better.
So the class is built like a set and a stage. Costumes and props come in, scenes get staged, and everyone gets the coaching, lead or not.
The showcase is when the lights come on and you see where you really are. In Improv the group puts up the improvised play, the form the highest level improvisers strive for, and we teach it to everybody.
4.9 stars · 234 Google reviews
“My son has been in the youth improv class for 3 years and he always has so much fun!”
Jessica Phillips · parent, Google review
“After his very first lesson, he got in the car and said “I want to do that everyday!””
“My daughter thoroughly enjoyed herself and acting classes gave her so much confidence. We will be back.”
Dearing
Sweeney
Who teaches it
Matthew Dearing wrote the curriculum. He and Brian Sweeney teach it.
“You have to earn the critique.”
Matthew Dearing · founder
Wednesday or Friday. Start this month.
About a minute to sign up, and the day is already chosen. Taking Script and Improv? $230 a month for both.
Questions first? Call or text 480-313-9901 · All kid classes
Arizona ESA family? This class is an approved use of Empowerment Scholarship funds. Pay through ClassWallet, with the ESA debit card, or by reimbursement. How it works
