Testimonials


“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.”

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

“I think Eilon’s workshops are really wonderful. He has a very refreshing approach to creativity, play and theatre making. The environment was one that really helped me let go of judgement or notions of competition with myself or with other people, or success or failure. It was a really ego-free environment.  And that’s not to say it wasn’t challenging. It was definitely very challenging in a brilliant way.  In Eilon’s workshops I not only had a lot of fun and learnt new skills, but from working with him I also have a better understanding of how I create as an artist. I think there’s a lot of personal and transferable growth I have taken from working with him. I can thoroughly recommend going to one of Eilon’s workshops.

–Tilda O’Graday, Actress and Residential Workshop Participant

“Eilon’s work focuses on rhythmicity and musicality in performance – something that is incredibly important to the working of ensembles, being able to both feel your internal rhythm as well as the rhythm of the space and the rhythm of your wider ensemble. He makes us aware of both a rhythm existing in our bodies, a rhythm existing between individuals, and rhythm existing within a [whole] performance. And once you are made aware of these things you can employ them for creating texture, creating characters, scenes. Its an incredibly rich and important tool for both performers and directors, and one I highly recommend”

–Josiah Lulham, Student at the Duende School of Ensemble Physical Theatre

“At the heart of Eilon’s practice lies rhythm. He has developed a series of pedagogical and accessible, but above all, fun, exercises and games that bring your attention and awareness towards complex rhythmical structures. This serves to give you a better awareness of an ensemble as a whole – to connect the ensemble, but also to connect better to yourself. These exercises can be quite challenging. They definitely keep you on your feet and definitely bring you out of your comfort zone. As a performer its definitely given me a better sense of focus and coordination. Its given me a wider vocabulary for responding to an ensemble; as a musician its definitely given me a better sense of rhythms and how to utilise them in improvisations, and as director, the theories and principles have absolutely been influential in my own work”

–Johan Bark, Actor, Musician and Director, Open Session Participant

“Our recent workshop with Eilon was really an exceptional experience. As well as being a warm, gentle and open facilitator who held the space beautifully throughout the day the content was genuinely unique, inspiring and immediately useful to the group. Eilon’s approach really enabled each performer to open up both to their own sense of internal space and to connect to the shared space in the group. His work on the use of negative space and gaps in time was full of creative possibility and offered us a completely new way of thinking about what we do. I would say that this work is essential for anyone working in the world of performance and I can’t wait to work with him again.”

–Stephanie Arsoska, Artistic Director of Little Red Theatre Company

“Working with Eilon and Zoe, I learnt methods which I now apply to my everyday practice. Their approach was warm and friendly, while still challenging the idea of something as simple as catching a ball. I learnt so much and particularly enjoyed “finding space”. I would jump at the chance to work with them again.

–Tara Glen, Workshop Participant

“While allowing me the opportunity to enhance my physical vocabulary, the workshop with Eilon and Zoe also made me re-evaluate my approach to creative thinking with respect to the concepts of intuition and impulse.”

–Sean Kemp, Workshop Participant

“This work opens up for the performer the possibility to cultivate a greater awareness and understanding of rhythm. I have found this work to be an integral part of my own training as an actor and invaluable in the training of performance students. Eilon’s work is highly structured and imaginative enabling the participant to work at their own rate and embracing moments of utter bewilderment.”

— Tray Wilson, Head of Drama at Oldham University Campus

“As part of an MA course in collaborative performance devising at Central School of Speech & Drama we were looking for ways to help makers of non-narrative performance use structure to organize their performance material and working methods. We called on Eilon Morris to come and teach a 3-part rhythm workshop and we weren’t disappointed. He was able to take our students through polyrhythmic patterns that found them experiencing themselves as individual parts of a greater whole. They found themselves experiencing different modes of thought and action and they experienced a kind of body intelligence only theorized before this.The rhythm work in Eilon Morris’s workshops offers a basis for structural strategies and can promote climates of attention that provide disciplined working environments. Through his rhythm work we find strategies to unify and support productive ensemble dynamics.”

–Karen Christopher, collaborative performance maker, mentor, and teacher

 

“Polyrhythms which would have appeared terrifying written in score form were eased out of us as simple things. Or even unconscious things.”

–Alex Kyle, Musician and Choir Leader

“I have both observed and participated in Eilon’s work over several years. He is sophisticated in his understanding of his work and sensitive in its teaching. Often he teaches alongside me in the hot-house atmosphere of residential workshops and his input is always invaluable. I commend him as both as a teacher and as a collaborator.”

–John Britton, Author ‘Encountering Ensemble’

“Eilon has been integral to my development as a performer and massive influence as an artist exploring and developing his own practice.  Eilon’s practice on the use of rhythm in training has been invaluable to me and is something that I want to engage with much more in the future.   I consider its application in the building of ensemble to training to rehearsals the most useful tool to connect and respond to others.”

–Stacey Johnstone, Performer and Educator

“I really enjoyed experiencing rhythm in a group setting – Eilon’s activities really encouraged us to ‘let go’ and be caught up in the powerful flow of various rhythmic patterns. I felt that everyone was able to get a different experience from the workshop because it did not rely on having to achieve a certain level of temporal awareness or movement; instead, the participants were encouraged to concentrate on their own individual experiences and when some of us ‘lost it’ we could step out and join the flow of the group again in our own time. In terms of ensemble awareness, I have not experienced a more powerful integration of a group than during Eilon’s Orbits work.”

–Justina Kasponyte, Postgraduate Research Student

“As a professional singer and instrumentalist, I greatly value the way in which Eilon’s group workshops over the years have helped me  reach into my practice and develop/ use sound of greater complexity with confidence. He has the enviable ability to present what would seem to be difficult, complex work in a way that allows us to sink into it  and cope with whatever he suggests.”

–Chris Coe, Singer and Voice Coach