Dearing Acting Studio
Teen improv class in Phoenix · Ages 11 to 17
Teen 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.
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. Listening at a high level under all of it.
What’s included
- Three classes a month, two hours 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 first-year and a 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 teenager will ever have, with a teacher, a coach, 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
Three Wednesdays a month. New students begin on the first class of the month.
Wednesdays5:45 to 7:45 PM
- October 7, 14, 21
- November 4, 11, 18
- December 2, 9, 16
- January 6, 13, 20
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.
Ages 17+ · Four times a year
The Masterclass
At 17, the Masterclass opens up. Two full days of scene study alongside the studio’s adult actors.
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
“In just a few improv courses, Brian and the rest of my classmates have helped my confidence immeasurably.”
Thomas Levi · student, Google review
“Dearing really makes me feel like I’m welcome. They truly are my Dearing family.”
“The classes are fun, entertaining, and will help one get out of their comfort zone.”
Dearing
Sweeney
Who teaches it
Matthew Dearing wrote the curriculum. He and Brian Sweeney teach it.
“Talent is not a trait gifted to the fortunate few. Talent is earned through acquiring skill.”
Matthew Dearing · Acting Is My Day Job
Wednesdays at 5:45. Start this month.
About a minute to sign up. The first class is the first Wednesday of the month. Taking Script and Improv? $370 a month for both.
Questions first? Call or text 480-313-9901 · All teen 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
