Flotsam & Jetsam

Premiere: May 2001
Choreography, co-direction: Bill James
Concept, music, co-direction: Juliet Palmer
Costume Design: Evelyn von Michalofski
Set Design: Paul Mathiesen, Evelyn von Michalofski, Juliet Palmer
Lighting Design: Paul Mathiesen
Videography: Nick de Pencier

Performers:
Vilma Vitols, Susan Macpherson, Ya-Wen Vivienne Wang

About

Flotsam & Jetsam is a definition-defying opera for mezzo-soprano, pianist and dancer. Premiered at Canada's Open Ears Festival in May 2001, Flotsam & Jetsam crosses boundaries between dance, music and video, bringing together some of Toronto's most innovative artists.

In the 1920's composer Juliet Palmer's grandmother played piano for silent films in the tiny New Zealand town of Takaka. Weaving together her grandmother's memories with the underwater world of Australian silent film star Annette Kellerman, Flotsam & Jetsam features mezzo-soprano Vilma Vitols, dancer Susan Macpherson and pianist Nicole Bellamy. Choreographed and co-directed by Bill James, the work incorporates stunning underwater images by filmmaker Nick de Pencier alongside rare footage from Venus of the South Seas (1924). Artist Evelyn von Michalofski's fantastical costumes of metal, plastic tubing and industrial felt transform the three women into high-tech mermaids, while Paul Mathiesen's lighting structure evokes the high-diving aquarium of Kellerman's vaudeville routines.