According to producers Chelsea Sleep and Dominique Hutchinson, the title of their show, H2O, stands for Homage 2 Oliver, a tribute performance of musicians and dancers held at the Heritage Playhouse in Gibsons last weekend.
It could also stand for Heartfelt 2 Outstanding; it was a unique combination of arts performed from the heart and entirely to the music of the late Canadian composer Oliver Schroer. As well as a terrific showcase for his music, the performance was obviously a joyful event to the multitude of dancers and fiddlers who performed.
Hutchinson thanked the audience, full houses at all three shows, and reminded them of the man - who she said had a tremendous talent for teaching kids and inspiring all artists. She began this project before Schroer died of leukemia last July, and she corresponded with him about its progress as recently as last spring.
Schroer had no children of his own, but called several of the young fiddlers "his kids."
Sleep, Emilyn Stam and Jaron Freeman-Fox, all of whom performed at H2O, are bent on keeping his music alive and teaching the haunting, innovative or catchy tunes to their own students.
The Twisted String fiddlers enjoyed the most time with Schroer. This select group, drawn from the Coast String Fiddlers and from another similar group in Smithers, were his students. He mentored them, taught them songs that were fun to play and enlivened their stage appearance by suggesting they don bright costumes and wigs.
"Let's go crazy," yelled Twisted String leader Sleep, and the group fiddled, gyrated and bounced around the stage to a tune of the same name.Freeman-Fox, a professional musician now living in Toronto, performed solo on A Field of Stars from the Camino recording using Schroer's own instrument. It was as close to the essence of the man as we'll ever hear again. But Freeman-Fox is not a clone; he has his own stage presence and relates to his audience in an intimate way. The 18 women of the DSdanse troupe were given a challenge in interpreting Schroer's music for dance performance. They rose to the occasion. Dancer Brittany Robertson soloed on Waltz for Em while Sleep and Emilyn (Em) Stam, a fiddler, pianist and composer from Smithers, played. All the dancers captured the fun of the music from Schroer's A Million Stars CD in a story piece performed by a diverse group of characters at a bus stop who find themselves tapping their toes to a fiddling busker.
Other highlights included a slideshow of local artist Gordon Halloran's ice art, produced by Steve Sleep, to accompany a trio of dancers working with colourful ribbons, reminiscent of rhythmic gymnastics.
In all, H2O was an outstanding production that will be broadcast on Coast Cable in the near future.
