Explore Character theory and find your own way into "being in character"
Work with your Shadow — alchemize what's hidden into creative fuel
Ground in your body, move through blocks, and connect to your own impulses
Take bigger risks by sourcing your work from your own deep knowing
Leave with greater access to your creative intelligence — on stage and in life
most importantly…
Get outta your head and into your body !!!
“Dov’s classes are the epicentre of creative expression. They are the basis for truthful and daring performance. It’s healing, transformative, and deeply effective work.”
-Nina Kiri
This is a three day workshop for actors/writers/directors/seekers and anyone interested in somatic, expressive and therapeutic work.
Who did you promise yourself you’d never be?
What do you have to hide about yourself in order to be loved?
Who do you demand people to see you as?
So much of drama and character about the Shadow and the tension between light and dark. And so much of our energy and power is trapped in our rejection of the Shadow. All the maneuvers we make to manicure our images keeps us split.
As “performers” it’s our job to reconnect with our whole selves, to welcome all aspects, light, dark, primal, pure, and safely embody what we’ve (all) rejected. To go into that dark bag we’ve stuffed at the back of our closets and unpack it, alchemize it, purify it, share it with the audience and let it be celebrated. This is the way we re-direct it from being covertly destructive in the world and sabotage our lives.
This 3 day workshop will give you an experience how you’ve split off from your fullness and a path to reconnect to that energy in service of your work.
I have been a working actor for over 30 years and have been developing this unique approach to acting for over the past 6 years. It has various therapeutic benefits and It incorporates many teachings from many modalities, including:
Clown
Somatic Therapy (I am a practicing therapist)
Group Therapy
Character Theory (developed by Wilhelm Reich)
Bioenergetics
Holotropic Breathwork
Circling
Authentic Relating
Shadow Work
Inner Child Work
PLAY
I created this modality alongside my training as a somatic therapist as a response to the challenges I faced my whole acting career in connecting to my source and allowing my creativity to flow on its own. Beginning to heal from the validation-wound which had me in states of control and looking outward referencing other’s ideas of “good” and "bad” I began to find my own ground and ability to use my energy more expansively. This work seeks to reconnect the artist to their own deep knowing and creative authority through exploration and feeling the edges of the artist’s own character compensations that have not only have held them back—but also perhaps, saved their lives.
What and Why:
What is Embodied Character??
Embodied Character is a creative, embodied approach to acting that explores the experience of being-in-character. Drawing from clown, somatics, character theory, constellation-work, parts-work, shadow-work and channeling. This class is an ongoing experiment in what it feels like to be human: to live at different extremes, in different realities, all for the noble purpose of holding a mirror up to the audience.
We call this work “embodied” because it focuses on using the wisdom and intelligence of the body to inhabit different energies, archetypes, inner parts, and character experiences. Moving away from the “expert model” approach to acting, which is rooted in criticism and ideas of “good” or “bad” acting, Embodied Character offers an approach centred on pleasurably entering the creative unknown.
The work encourages the actor’s ability to intuitively express character experiences within their own body, using their inherent creative intelligence as a pathway into understanding the character’s reality. Embodied Character recognizes that acting is ultimately about the moment to moment experience of being in-character. It supports the actor’s growth not only as an artist, but also as a human being and leader in the world.
The work is physical and held within a spiritual frame that allows the actor to understand their practice within a larger life-path context. We explore our own limiting character beliefs and discover the edges of “character” that keep us from being fully and creatively exuberant.
This is for you if:
You're an actor, writer, or director feeling stuck in the limitations of the mind.
You’re interested in exploring what lives in your shadow (and embodying it !!).
You’re longing for a spiritual frame, a sacred container for your work in a capitalist driven industry.
You’re wanting to become more embodied in your work.
You want more freedom, more risk, more effortless creative flow in your work.
You're working towards using your craft not just as a career, but as a path of growth.
You're yearning to stop managing yourself and your creativity and want to feel what it’s like to trust yourself.
“Every experience working with Dov brings me closer to myself and the artist I am.”
-Ryan
Testimonials:
“Dov is a phenomenal coach and facilitator. Skillful. Sensitive. Attuned.
He brings with him a wholly unique and expansive cocktail of experiences, perspectives, and practices for the performer to try on. His somatic psychotherapy background gives his sessions a rare depth and dimensionality—allowing people to stretch into prickly places with care, support, and agency.
Over the course of his workshop, we found risk and courage. We mined our own cosmologies and witnessed one another in vulnerable honesty. It felt deeply collective and profoundly human.
I’m in awe of Dov’s ability to hold a room, meet people where they are, and gently invite them toward what may be possible.”
-K
“When everyone is lingering at the end of the workshop because they don't want it to be over yet, you know you've been in a good workshop. I think what we all didn't want to leave was a little world where we truly witnessed each other and ourselves, and loved what we witnessed. I felt and expressed so many intense feelings in one weekend, deeply and with my whole body. It was a truly extraordinary journey of body / heart / soul that taught me so much about myself as an artist and as a person. I left with my heart full, feeling joyful and connected.”
-Emily
“This was such a beautiful and powerful experience. This was my 1st workshop and I had no idea what to expect going in, but I'm so grateful to have gotten to learn from Dov and my fellow classmates. I'm excited for the next one !”
-Bukola
“I'm leaving with an accepted sense of self… with a good idea of how it feels to honour and accept myself. The workshop was a good tool to use when i need to remind myself what it feels like to accept myself from the bottom up.”
-Nico
About Dov:
Dov Tiefenbach, ACCEP, founder of Embodied Character
I have spent 30+ years as a working actor—while very meaningful at times, I also spent considerable energy agonizing over ideas of success, managing my image, and trying to force my way through my blocks and anxieties, leaving my inner gold unmined. Underneath my career in the industry, I was scared and holding the best of myself back. Finding Somatic Therapy, and eventually my own training opened the door to finding my ground within my being and the willingness to give up performing ideas of myself to the world.
I trained for five years in Core Energetics — a somatic-psychotherapy modality that explores how the body holds our psychological defenses and traumas, as well as the spiritual dimensions of human experience. I then completed a sixth year in Radical Aliveness, deepening my understanding of facilitating relational and group work through a wider cultural lens.
Embodied Character — originally developed as an experiment for actors navigating creative and energetic blocks and seeking deeper contact with themselves and more pleasurable ways “into character”—has now expanded to anyone drawn to the expressive arts — centering in Presence, Embodiment, deep-knowing and Character Theory as pathways into creative work.
I see my role as a “teacher” as holding the space for what’s possible in your fullest creative capacity. EC offers a non-critical modality where I reject the traditional “expert model” in which acting is normally taught.
At its heart, my work is spiritual: devoted to raising consciousness through deep connection with the body, with others, and the world around us.
Workshop Cost:
Costs have a sliding scale based on those who wish to support others to attend and those with financial limitations. Please choose what scale fits you best.
Scholarships available !
Please contact me with your specific needs, I want all to have access to this work.
If you’re in need of a scholarship, please Apply by November 20th.
Early Bird - $300
Apply by November 20th for this rate
Actual - $350
This represents the true cost of the workshop.
Sponsor - $400
For those with sufficient financial funds & wish to support others to attend.