Method Acting: Foundations of Authentic Performance
Next Intensive – SPRING – March 15th, 16th and 17th, 2026
Let’s work.
Let’s grow. Let’s act.
Fundamental knowledge of Stanislavski highly recommended.
Quarterly Method Acting Intensives
With Brandy Hotchner
Method Acting:
Foundations of Authentic Performance
Tuition: $275 per intensive
This class is devoted to the development of the actor’s inner craft. Rather than focusing on scene performance, the work centers on building the personal instrument required for truthful acting: emotional access, imagination, presence, and behavioral truth.
In a structured, supportive environment, actors learn how to prepare themselves for the work. How to enter a scene grounded, available, and responsive rather than “performing.” Through Method-based exercises and guided exploration, students learn to identify and remove internal blocks, strengthen emotional availability, and deepen their ability to listen, respond, and sustain truthful behavior under imagined circumstances.
This training demystifies powerful acting not through tricks or shortcuts, but through discipline, self-awareness, and practice. Actors leave with practical tools they can apply across all material, genres and mediums. You will leave with a stronger foundation, greater freedom, and a deeper trust in your process.
Upcoming Intensives:
- Spring 2026: March 15 12pm-3pm, 16 & 17 | 6:00 PM – 10:00 PM
- Classes can go over depending on what’s needed, please prepare for a 4pm end time on Sunday and 11pm on Weeknights.
- Summer 2026: July 5, 6 & 7 | 6:00 PM – 10:00 PM
- Fall 2026: October 10th | 6:00 PM – 10:00 PM and October 11th | Time TBA
Each intensive begins with Relaxation & Sensory work from 6:00–7:00 PM, grounding you in your body and preparing your emotional instrument for the scene work ahead. This foundation helps you release tension, open up creatively, and access a fuller range of truthful responses in performance. The remainder of the evening is devoted to scene rehearsal, individualized coaching, and ensemble collaboration.
This is the work great actors return to; the kind of work that builds careers and leaves an impact.
Fundamental knowledge of Stanislavski highly recommended.
Lee Strasberg’s Relaxation & Sensory Training
6:00PM – 7:00PM
Included with your Intensive
Lee Strasberg’s systematic technique of Relaxation and Sensory was nearly a century ahead of its time. Long before modern science caught up, Strasberg understood what we now call somatic intelligence — the body’s role in memory, emotion, and expression.
Today, this work is backed by neuropsychology and somatic research, which recognize that the body holds lived experience in its muscles, reflexes, and voice; often more vividly than the mind. Strasberg observed what science now confirms: conditioning and trauma manifest as chronic tension, shallow breath, and reflexive holding patterns that limit an actor’s full range.
Method Acting and Sensory at Arizona Actors Academy
In these specialty classes at Arizona Actors Academy, Artistic Director Brandy Hotchner guides actors on a transformative journey through Method Acting—a technique rooted in the teachings of Lee Strasberg. This approach goes beyond surface-level performance, inviting actors to explore their deepest truths and bring unparalleled realism and authenticity to their craft.
Brandy teaches these workshops in the traditional format, nearly 100 years old, as passed down by her mentors, Barbara Poitier and Sandra Seacat—both students of Lee Strasberg and Elia Kazan. Adding her own insights and modern updates,
Brandy helps each actor discover what inspires their creativity, unlocks their empathy, and ignites a passion for bold, unapologetic artistry. Every class will include Relaxation and Sensory followed by intensive scene study. Read more below about the unique approach to both and why this training is so highly sought after.
“When you work with Brandy, the lineage is clear: Lee Strasberg to Barbara Poiter to Brandy. She creates a safe, joyous and rigorous environment found only in the classroom of a precious few coaches living today. But she doesn’t stop with just Method work. Her extensive background in classical acting is the foundation she imparts to all actors who study with her.”
American Method Acting at Arizona Actors Academy
“I know of no other advice than this: Go within and scale the depths of your being from which your very life springs forth.”
Arizona Actors Academy features the highly sought after and too often mis-understood American Method tool box of acting. This technique is at its core a deep dive into Lee Strasberg’s Method, Sandra Seacat’s mining of the unconscious, Stella Adler’s expanding of the human spirit through imagination, and Barbara Poitier’s mastery of moment-to-moment work through research/empathy. Actors are expected to always be working on fully prepared scenes while actively looking for and introducing new material.
Registration Open
