Rhythm in Acting and Performance


Rhythm in Acting and Performance: Embodied Approaches and Understandings, was published by Bloomsbury, Methuen Drama in 2017. It was written and compiled over an eight-year period, through enquiry, collaboration, discussion and play in the field of rhythm and performance. Informed by my own practical knowledge of working as an actor, percussionist, and educator, this text discusses the ways practitioners approach, embody and understand rhythm within their creative work and play.


To start, Eilon Morris informs the reader that they will not find a simple definition or universal concept of rhythm in this book. Instead, through a well-balanced dose of theory and practice… Morris adeptly unpacks the complex relationship with rhythm in training and performance. With risk of sounding overly effusive, as an acting instructor this is a book I have been wanting for years. Its value comes from Morris’s approach. … It will be a great addition to the conversations of acting instructors and artists in performance, but also for scholars looking to enrich the engagement of students in discussions of performance analysis.

J. Ariadne Calvano, Theatre Topics,

Rhythm in Acting and Performance traces this common and yet diverse subject through a range of contexts and perspectives, including the work of Konstantin Stanislavski, Suzanne Bing, Jerzy Grotowski, Anne Bogart, John Britton and the author’s own practices as a trainer and performer. Including topics such as ensemble, improvisation, voice, and ritual, this text examines these familiar performance themes through the lens of rhythm, emphasising rhythms role in uniting performers, inspiring vitality, shaping meaning and states of consciousness.

Offering informative and useful insights to aid and inspire further creative and academic explorations, and including case studies, practical examples, analytical reflections, and interviews, Rhythm in Acting and Performance is an ideal guide for students and practitioners.


Morris opens up this vital but neglected term with a multiplicity of approaches, ranging from historical context and practitioner analyses and interviews through 24 sample exercises to more philosophical reflections. This broad range is artfully grounded by his highly informed and embodied understanding of rhythm.

Paul Allain, Professor of Theatre and Performance and Dean of the
Graduate School, University of Kent

See more details and purchasing options at:

Bloomsbury Publishers:  https://bloomsbury.com/uk/rhythm-in-acting-and-performance-9781472589866/

Amazon.com: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B073QJFMFR

Amazon.co.uk: http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B073QJFMFR

Drama Online: http://www.dramaonlinelibrary.com/theatre-crafts/rhythm-in-acting-and-performance-iid-184246


Table of contents

PART ONE Establishing a Pulse

    1. What is Rhythm? An Open Question

      The etymology of rhythm
      Productive categories of rhythm
    2. An Epoch of Rhythm: Now and Then

      Natural and organic rhythm
      Mechanical and deterministic rhythmic aesthetics
      Rhythm as a universal language
      Authenticity and real time
      A new epoch of rhythm

      PART TWO Stanislavski on Rhythm

    3. Tapping emotions: the Ins and Outs of Tempo-Rhythm

      An aspiring opera singer
      Psychophysical techniques
      Eurhythmics and polyrhythm
      Tempo and rhythm – ins and outs
      Tempo-rhythm in training
      Tempo-rhythm in rehearsals

      PART THREE Structure and Spontaneity

    4. Suzanne Bing: Music and Games in Actor Training

      Initial interests in rhythm
      Children’s school in Paris
      Applying eurhythmics in actor training
      Voice, movement and storytelling
      Musique corporelle
      Legacy of rhythm and play
    5. Vsevolod Meyerhold: Rhythm Not Metre

      Form as a means to freedom
      A rhythmic vocabulary
      Rhythm versus metre
      Tripartite rhythm
    6. John Britton: Smashing the Ensemble Groove

      Musical accompaniment
      Jazz as model for ensemble improvisation
      Ensemble
      Smashing the groove
      The shape of an action
      The energetic
    7. Anne Bogart and Tina Landau: A Horizontal Viewpoint

      A non-hierarchical ethos
      Musical accompaniment
      Rhythm in Suzuki work
      Viewpoints of time
      Reflections on structure and spontaneity

      PART FOUR The Ecstatic Performer

    8. Rhythm and Altered States of Consciousness: Entrainment and Communitas

      Rhythmic entrainment
      Group/ensemble rhythm
    9. Jerzy Grotowski: Seeking Pulse, Movement and Rhythm

      Influences and sources
      Exercises plastiques
      Techniques of sources
    10. Nicolás Núñez: Becoming Present

      Slow walking
      Contemplative running
      Cosmic verticality
      ‘Here and now’
      Continuity of effort and the sustaining of rhythm
    11. Eilon Morris: Orbits – Cultivating Simultaneity

      Vertical time
      Orbits
      Running Orbits
      Reflections
      Reflections on polyrhythm and simultaneity

      PART FIVE A Plurality of Voices

    12. Rhythming Words: Where, how and Why

      Meaning and rhythm
    13. Creating spaces: Conversations with Judith Adams and Karen Christopher

      Judith Adams
      Karen Christopher
    14. The Poetry of the Breath: Conversations with Bruce Myers and Kate Papi

      Bruce Myers
      Kate Papi
    15. The tune is a Framework: A Conversation with Chris Coe and Frankie Armstrong

      PART SIX Reflections

      Coda

      Glossary
      Notes
      References
      Index