Karl Morgan: Permaculture, Dance, And The Meaning of Life

I’ve been trying to get my neighbour Karl Morgan on the podcast for ages, because he has a really interesting story. He spent years as a professional dancer in the West End, appearing in musicals such as Cats, and Guys and Dolls. And then he founded Movement Warriors with his partner Janine, a company that teaches youngsters how to dance, instilling them with confidence and helping them keep fit.

But he also has an amazing garden. It’s overflowing with greenery and wonderful heritage vegetables.

Karl is a permaculturist. He has adopted a low-effort approach to gardening that puts complimentary varieties of plants next to each other, to create an ecosystem that is gentle on the earth and self sufficient. Some plants are there to support others, some are to be eaten, and some are to feed the earth. And the results are astounding.

But there are parallels in the garden with Karl’s own philosophies on life. Borrowing from the Buddhist traditions, Karl finds his garden as a place where he can let go, and he can often be found meditating there. Gardening has, after all, been considered a meditation in itself for thousands of years.

After shooting some images of Karl among his amazing vegetables in Springfield Meadow, we finally sat down for a short but very enjoyable conversation about gardening, dance, and the meaning of life. I hope you enjoy it as I much as I do.