After years of taking classes with a variey of coaches, I now feel that there is no correct way to answer the question, "Who provides the best acting classes?". It is a very personal decision and choice. The best classes are those where YOU feel connected and feel as if you are growing. Coaches I recommended three years ago, I wouldn't recommend today because I'VE grown. I've studied with Eric Morris, Ivanna Chubbuck, Tasha Smith (google them, they are all AWESOME), however, NOW I'm at a point where I realize that I need an on-camera class because I need to perfect my on camera technique and none of the previous classes provided that. So, my advice: most classes offer a free audit. Maybe take a month and audit a few classes per week, then see where your heart leads you.
Good luck!!
Dana Hanna
www.MySpace.com/DeemovieStar

I don't know if I'd take acting lessons from a 'group' (although I joined 2 different improv groups and learned a lot).

As far as persons go, I would, in fact, take lessons from an actor...only, that actor would have to have a lot more experience than me. For example, Tom Noonan (MANHUNTER, X-FILES, LAST ACTION HERO, etc) gives lessons in New York; Frank Langella (DRACULA, BODY OF EVIDENCE, CUTTHROAT ISLAND, DAVE, etc) reportedly gives lessons in L.A. My last acting coach appeared in SILVERADO and other films.

I'm rather leery of taking courses given by agencies...normally they're just cash cows for the agency, but actors pour in because they think they'll get work. Any agency worth their salt should perhaps suggest acting courses from a varied list of instructors, but when they only have ONE instructor it practically screams 'conflict of interest'.

Best, K.K.
More from K.K.--
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WWW.MYSPACE.COM/ROCKHERWORLD

Ruth Kulerman
Minor Note: If you subscribe to the notion that those who can't succeed in acting turn to teaching, you might also consider that those who can't succeed in acting or directing become agents or casting directors. Quick story: I auditioned for a Southern role. The casting director had a New York accent you could cut with a knife. I personally was raised in the South surrounded by Southerners for 15 years. My "Southern" accent is the accent I spoke for 15 years. When my agent called the casting director for feed back, the agent was told my Southern accent wasn't genuine. Wonder what kind of a coach or teacher that person would make?
I would study with an agent or a casting director for one reason only: the hope that they will call you in as a client (agent) or for auditions (casting director). That is usually the bait dangled to lure new students.
Now, how to find a coach or teacher: Depends on your city. Small town? Find a college and speak to the Chairman of the Drama Department. City? Ask friends. Google "coaches" or "Acting Classes." Take one lesson. Or ask to sit in on one class. Ask to see acting resume of teacher. Reviews of his/her work? Experience teaching? Length of time in business? (Learn how to really read a resume. Lots of "extra" work gets passed off as roles. Lots of Off Off Broadway mysteriously drop an "Off" which makes the project much more significant. And hence the resume more impressive.) Where did the coach/teacher get his/her training? Why is that coach coaching? That teacher teaching? It's your money. You have a right to know the product (teacher) you are buying. And last, use your intuition (a quality greatly necessary to an actor). Do not automatically assume that if one teacher produced a great actor that the teacher will turn you into a great actor also. A teacher can mold and polish and teach technique. But no one can make a great actor, except the actor himself. Surely you yourself, after two or three lessons, are the best judge of the value of any class, teacher, or coach. Do not stay with anyone just because they pat you and make you feel good. Stay because you are learning, growing, improving, being trained via solid practical technique. Every good actor is not necessarily a good teacher. But every good teacher had better be a good actor and have proof of that claim.