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WHAT PEOPLE HAVE SAID ABOUT WORKING WITH CLOWNWITHIN

 

GENERAL APPRECIATIONS:

 

"Thank you so much for the clowning workshop … I saw myself in truth"
Mary Parr 2005

 

"Just the balance of playfulness and deep learning that I was looking for. I enjoyed the variety of techniques and the sense of safety"
Chris 2006

 

"What can I say ! Many thanks for creating the space - magical - for us/me to release some of those pent-up feelings and allowing us to breathe through our feelings"
David G 2004

 

"Fantastic… challenging…off the wall….crazy….expanding….fun"
Anon 2004

 

"I love what you do. It blesses so many of us"
Anna Louise Ridley 2005



"You have inspired me to do wonderful and challenging movements to make a difference to my life"
Pat White 2001

 

"My reason for writing is to let you know how successful your course has been. Yesterday evening (at CR), we had a session with singing bowls doing solos and, when it came to my turn, I did a comic version wearing a red nose. Two people came up to me afterwards and said they are going to book on your course as a result !….I often use my red nose…. I would like to say how much your course has helped me to play much more in my life and for that I am very grateful"
Barry Seward-Thompson 2003

 

"I'm feeling more confident after having had such a good experience… I haven't started wearing my red nose to work yet or introducing myself with my teeth sticking out, but I'm planning that for next week !"
Lesley Ambler 2006

 

"Thank you so much for an amazing week - it's such a relief to feel so alive!"
Liz Aldous 2001

 

"You are not a guru but you are as bonkers as my six year old niece ! - I felt so safe working with you"
Sally Davies 2001

 

"You've confronted our deep and painful issues with grace and gentleness"
Poz Bradley 2001

 

"When I cantered round the room, I felt like I was six !"
Maralyn Poskitt 2003

 

"I really loved the time spent clowning - Thank you for teaching me to be unafraid of opening my heart"
Jan Hicks 2003

 

"Thank you for a wonderful, loving and thrilling holiday. Your courage and honesty is so inspiring."
Martin Hyams 2001

 

"The week was one of magical bonding and camaraderie and I got to see myself in you all more clearly, so deep appreciation and gratitude….. Rachel was fantastic- a veritable bundle of joy, mischief, love and compassion"
Jo Feat 2005

 

"I remember several moments when I lost all consciousness of myself and really had no idea what I was going to do next, but a certainty that there would be a next thing…it's having an audience that not only accept whatever comes out of me, even likes it, that feels wonderful, the idea of not having to self-censor, that turning off the filter leads to being better accepted rather than rejected which is empowering and liberating and generally fab …and yesterday was another big step in learning to release…. I liked the use of music, really liked the place, and the transparent way you made decisions. Liked the way you integrated authenticity and support into the structure of the day and the way you wordlessly persuaded me to be a flightless bird in a ballet that was not about a duck !"
Nick Green 2002

 

"Thank you with my whole WHOLE heart for the party ….every single thing was wonderful …. You were the most fantastic clown I've ever seen. I hope you enjoyed entertaining us. I thought you were absolutely excellent. No one could have been better"
Eleanor, aged 8 1996

 

"Thank you, you taught me some great clown skills. To start off with I wasn't quite sure but now I am quite convinced ! After the show, all my friends and people who I didn't know said I was BRILLIANT. I was really pleased. Once again, thank you very much."
Emily Rowe , aged 11 1998

 

"It was really a success and I would like to thank you and your partners for all the effort that you put into the workshops…the members are still talking about the Circus !"
Ravenswood Centre for Learning Disabilities 1996

 

"I really enjoyed working with you… you're such an inspiring, giving person and I feel like it's OK to feel what I'm feeling when you're there, plus of course I love all the dancing and larking about…. You did a great job"
Nerissa Payne 2005

 

"I would trust Rachel with my life"
Caroline 2004

 

 

CLOWNS AS HEALERS:

 

"She who stands at the edge and then goes one step further. Mrs Give and Give some more. Thank you for all the attention you have given my sadness and the time and passion to let me fly. I won't forget this special time and think I'm very privileged to be on this course. I wish you every strength with your open heart surgery"
Lizz Daniels 2001

 

"Thanks again for the course. Over the years, I have often wished for unstoppable healing tears but never anticipated them so unexpectedly or so publicly or with the support of clowns bearing toilet rolls ! So thank you."
Anon. 2005

 


"Thank you for the wondrous landscapes you took us into during the clowning workshop at Cortijo Romero… I think you know how much it touched my insides ! You may want to call it "massage for the soul !"…it was magical, or full of magical moments that arose when I least expected it …much joy and challenge and moving within… you were a brilliant course person…inspiring and full of empathy and with magic yourself, leading us to new places, daring us to follow - brilliant. I'd had a notion of the clown as healer but it became much clearer and the amazing potential it has for relationship… the experience of connecting and responding to others was wonderful. (Also incredibly painful at those times when I felt artificial or couldn't really connect)… it's made the moments of authentically connecting very clear and joyful. I love my red nose and often think of its essence and what it brings when I'm sat working - it's a great source of gentle joy"
Louise Salmon 2003

 

"How much I benefitted from your skills as a facilitator. I now understand a bit at least about the depth of emotion, compassion and sensitivity involved in the craft of clowning."
Jenny Graham 2005

 

"Just wanted to thank you for an amazing day ! I've made a connection since with a character I created when I was 11 called "Buster" - he was a real adventurer and individualist - a tear-away with a heart. Maybe that's my clown name ?……. I'm training as a Spiritual healer - I was really pleased to find a performance space that felt like a continuation of my healing practice (and background in Wicca too - I got the Crone mask!) . Thank you ! Thank you ! Thank you ! (and my back feels great)"
Wynny Mark (Buster) Wells

 

"It seems like an eternity that we were all together…tears tumbling and bellies aching from laughter …we were a great group. I really felt loved by you all. What a joy… I can honestly say that the depths we travelled were really grounding for me and I feel very different from before I went. Motivation has entered into my life and I really want my clown to pop up as she feels. I'm a lot clearer too as to what I want and where I'm going"
Lizz Daniels 2001

 

"Looking back we both really enjoyed our week with you although, at times, we were both strongly challenged. What we are finding is that we are using clowning much more now to communicate with each other and I believe that the experience has significantly strengthened our relationship"
Barry and Glynnis 2003

 

"I would very much like to thank you for the wonderful week of clowning. It was a really terrific experience. In fact, I would go so far as to say that without it, I would have had trouble coping with what came next , i.e. the ruptured Achilles. I think I was able to bear the whole episode because I had forgotten what the correct adult response to such an injury should be"
Angus Douglas 2000

 

"I wanted to write and say how very moved I was by your workshop…and by how it has continued to affect me in varied and sometimes surprising ways over the past two weeks. Not always easy, but real. When I said it had been a profound experience I meant it, and am immensely grateful to you…… to express my immediate appreciation - and admiration - for your depth and integrity….A particular coyote story keeps returning to my mind, one of the ones where he falls out of the sky and dies, "rubbed out", until returned to life by Fox and his honouring of the four directions…..like all the coyote stories I know, they have such depth of meaning and each time I tell one the more is revealed to me. And this one, right now, feels a little like a metaphor for my life and illness, and the seven years I have felt "rubbed out". It is good to have metaphors sometimes isn't it, especially ones that make you laugh at life. Stories carry that real power for me, but sometimes the imagination needs a physical prod, and lying on the floor of the Magic Circle, getting "just a little bit more comfy" is a metaphor that I keep returning to with an inner warmth. So many thanks and "blessings" to you, the giver of them."
Anon 2004

 

"Clowning has made an incredible difference to my life. I'm more confident, more creative, have more energy, am more honest about what I feel and think. I really want to pursue clowning further."
Wendy Fitton 2005

 

"Well, you would be proud of your pupil ! Two hugs in first morning surgery, one hug from a patient in Mental Hospital who really seemed to understand that by sectioning her I was caring for her ! One clown hug from behind for my grumpy GP colleague who actually said how nice it was to be hugged ! Complete hysterics with one 4 year old boy whose tummy was too tickly to be examined and told me very rude things when I listened with my stethoscope. There is LOTS of enthusiasm for you to come up here… Your workshop was just the very best for me - it really connected with forgotten parts, got rid of parts that needed to be forgotten and was such a laugh !"
Venetia Young 2004

 

 

MORE FEEDBACK FROM COURSES SHORT & LONG:

 

"I loved your performance and the workshop was fantastic . All the comments were positive as I expected them to be. I think I enjoyed your workshop more than any other we have had at Gaunts"
Mary Bridges 2003

 

"You made me laugh so much, what a great job you are doing to heal the planet"
Carole Unser 2003

 

"My heart has opened from the work and play together, sometimes it was magical, sometimes sticky …. But the main thing I've learned is that my capacity to enjoy others is much greater than I realised and I have a lot to give"
Anon 2004

 

"Tremendous fun and everyone let go which was essential"
Anon 2005

 

 

 

ABOUT COURSE LEADERSHIP:

 

"Very professional …… liberating…..brilliant….."

 

"Great to have so much laughter ! ……. Very caring for each individual"

 

"Clear - well-planned - encouraging spontaneity and participants' authenticity."

 

"Not afraid to touch vulnerability with tenderness"

 

"Excellent - compassionate and strong. Able to focus on the needs of individuals in the group as the occasion arose. A powerful woman."

 

"Wonderful, safe, nurturing and caring"

 

"No human being has taught me so much about true joy and happiness"

 

" I really enjoyed your dynamism and strength"

 

"I particularly appreciate the sensitivity with which Rachel listened to the group and how we were feeling and then tailored the elements of particular sessions to meet the needs of all the participants in the group"

 

"I found Rachel very warm, sensitive, encouraging and felt very safe in her groups"

 

"Rachel is inspired and utterly authentic, able to gently encourage massive risk-taking, enormously compassionate, flows with group dynamic wherever that leads. I feel privileged to have played with her in a sacred space".

 

"Rachel is an inspiring leader".

 

"I feel … very held and attended to. I had a sense of Rachel's long experience of clowning and being with groups. She is fun and holding".

 

"Thank you so much for such a wonderful week. You're such a special teacher and you've inspired me so much with your love, warmth and funniness (I know it's not a proper word!) …. I feel so energised "

 

"Most of all you see, you see us all - you find our letters and read each one out loud …. I always wondered if I would ever open up like that and really show the pain inside. And then I just stood in front of a group of people and allowed them to see me defenceless. And then I allowed myself to be looked after. Wet and soggy and sobbing and safe. I'm glad ….it's really uplifting working with you and a privilege. And great fun …. And finding some way to brighten people's lives with humour or to contact them through performance… Thanks for helping me to understand what love is"

 

A big thank you for your warmth and love and I am in awe of your talents and skills"

 

"Rachel is a very wise and insightful, caring woman with a big heart and tremendous enthusiasm, and I feel I'm leaving with a big yes to following the path of the clown"

 


"CLOWNS DO IT WITH THEIR HEARTS !"
Adam 1996