About Us
Our History
The Mastery Workshops foundational workshop, The Mastery of Self Expression (the Mastery) was created in 1976 by Dan Fauci at the Actor's Institute in New York. Through his work as an actor/director/producer and acting teacher, he noticed that through the rigours of the audition process, many of the actors he knew had lost their passion for their craft. He created the workshop to help them rediscover this passion and to unlock their creativity. It did this and so much more.
Quickly it became apparent that the process worked not just for performers but was a powerful catalyst for connecting anyone with their passion for life and it began being offered to the general public. Soon after he moved to LA, the actor Ted Danson (“Sam” from Cheers & The Good Place) convinced Dan to bring the workshop out there and the work quickly spread.
The first Mastery was run in Vancouver, Canada in 1982 by Larry Gilman, Paula Shaw, and Linda Darlow, actors trained to lead the workshop under Dan. Since that time the Mastery has continued to be offered in Vancouver, with probably more Grads here than anywhere else it has been run. A strong community has built up around the workshop because of the Grads who generate amazing results in their personal lives and then go on to share the work with the people they care about.
Over the years the Mastery has been conducted in over 50 cities, and 20 countries and continues to expand worldwide. More than 35,000 people from all walks of life have taken the workshop. Several other workshops including Mastering Leadership, The Abyss, and The Next Step (the latter being created by Larry Gilman and Trish Brydon) have grown out of the roots of the Mastery.
There is something beyond our bodies, our minds, and our senses. This is what I call 'soul'. When we are in touch with this soul, we can create, inspire, love, transform, and actually change the world for the better."
​​
- Dan Fauci, Creator of The Mastery Workshops
Locations where The Mastery Workshops have been held
Spin the globe and hover over the markers to explore the locations of workshops held around the world.
Our Team Members
Testimonials
"At my first Mastery, a dam broke inside and I finally allowed myself to be vulnerable; to be seen. The change was so radical that I could not recognize myself when I got home after the weekend and looked in the mirror. I saw this joyful girl when, for years, there was only this fast-aging woman filled with frustration and resentment. That "discovery" was awe-inspiring to me!"
- Suzanne Boisvert
"The Mastery has been invaluable to me, both in my career and, more importantly, throughout my life. It has helped me to understand that I am a unique individual; to be responsible for being present; and the creativity that can grow out of that, for everyone. I have used the tools of it in every aspect of my life and career and have gone on to further explore the basic principles of The Abyss, and the Leadership and Creativity workshops, as well. But it is The Mastery that is the root of it all; being present, seeing, and finding the capacity we all have to live our lives creatively and as fully as we all deserve."
- Willie Garson
(Stanford, “Sex in the City”)