The curriculum for the BFA in Dramatic Performance from CCM is rigorous, demanding and thorough. The classroom training is practical and tailored to the individual, and it is designed to prepare artists for work as an actor in the twenty-first century. Recognizing that there is no one methodology guaranteed to unlock the potential of every individual student, CCM Drama offers diverse experiential training that puts student growth at the center.
Classroom training, with emphasis on acting, voice production, and movement, is the cornerstone of the CCM experience. Production work, taken as a class for credit, is the natural extension of the classroom where students put their training to the test in the rehearsal and production of major works from the theatrical canon. In addition, master classes offered by internationally recognized artists complement the student training experience at CCM.
Each incoming class, numbering around 20 students, moves as a group through the four years of training. The curriculum is comprehensive, structured, and varied.
- The acting track takes students through a progression from a year of Viewpoints and Suzuki Training, to a year of Meisner and Morris Training, through an in-depth year in the Michael Chekhov Technique, and finishes with a year of styles work.
- The voice classes offer in-depth study of voice production, working knowledge of the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA), Alba Emoting, rigorous dialect studies, verse and scansion, vocal health, and voice-over work.
- In the Movement sequence students encounter the Alexander Technique, Pilates, Laban training, and a full year of mask work (neutral, full-face primitive, half-face character, and quality masks). Students encounter a year of combat training, including work in rapier, dagger, quarterstaff, unarmed, and scrappy fighting, culminating in juniors testing for the SAFD (Society of Fight Directors) and, if they pass the test, being recognized actor-combatants.
- The Senior Showcase, the capstone experience for all seniors, serves as entry into the profession for graduating seniors. The Senior Showcase is performed for the industry (artistic directors, casting directors, agents and managers) in Cincinnati, New York, and Los Angeles.
- The 9 required credits in Rehearsal and Performance are earned by being cast in departmental productions. As of the sophomore year all students are required to audition for every show produced by CCM Drama, which includes 4 full-length plays a year.
- The 9 required credits in New Works Production are earned by yearly participation in TRANSMIGRATION: A Festival of Student Created New Works. From freshman through senior year every CCM Drama student is randomly placed on a team of students who write, create, produce, and perform in an origal 30 minute performance presented in festival format in in three similtaneous venues for a weekend in March.
- Specialized conservatory courses are offered in Acting For the Camera, Audition and Business Skills For The Actor.
- For elective credit students may choose to take voice lessons from the excellent CCM Voice Department, dance classes from the Dance Division or the Musical Theatre Department, or academics from the various other colleges of the University of Cincinnati.
