Premiere: December 2025, Galaxie, Prague
Abstract
Flotsam and jetsam is originally a maritime term describing debris or objects that were either accidentally lost overboard (flotsam) or deliberately thrown off a ship (jetsam) for whatever reason. The impossibility of immediately determining what was lost by accident and what was discarded on purpose is, for the artists, a rich theme extending far beyond the maritime context, both in terms of working with physical objects and metaphorically.
From the perspective of object-based research, an intriguing question or paradox arises in both civilian and artistic settings: What makes a deliberately discarded or arranged set of objects an installation, and what remains mere waste? Can we ever truly say whether a randomly found object was thrown away or lost? And how does this apply to our own qualities, traumas, thoughts or memories?
Do individuals lose these things unintentionally, or do they consciously cast them off? (The term flotsam and jetsam is used metaphorically in English to describe what a person has had to lose or shed over the course of life in order to move forward.) As a theme, and through the visual imagery it evokes, it offers a powerful springboard for the artists’ research, one they see as deeply relevant and wish to explore with perspective and wit.
Another aspect lies in approaching the human body as inanimate material, or as an object for manipulation. How does the relationship between two performers change when one becomes the “juggled” body? The artists see great potential here for exploring hierarchy, trust, and the act of surrendering one’s physicality to another. How can one juggle a body or words or let an object dance or perform on its own?
Video trailer
Creative team
Concept/Interpretation: Lukas Bliss, Andrej Štěpita
Dramaturgy: Roman Poliak
Music: David Herzig
Set design: Natálie Rajnišová
Consultation: Filip Zahradnický
The project was created with the support of: MKČR, SFK, CIRQUEON, REZI.dance, Studio ALTA
Technical requirements
Small/medium format, indoor performance, minimum stage space 5 x 4 meters.
Further details to be specified.
Forms of presentation
The project is intended for theater and can be performed in a big top.
Blackbox.
Information about the company
Lukas Blaha Bliss studied at HAMU in Prague and has since worked steadily across the Czech theatre, dance and circus scenes. His interdisciplinary approach allows him to combine various creative methods and principles, particularly work with text, improvisation, humour, objects and movement. He collaborates, among others, with Spitfire Company, Tantehorse, Pocketart and My Kluci co spolu chodíme (a collective he co-founded and where he contributes actively to dramaturgy and directing). In his own authorial work, he focuses on the syncretism of object theatre with a certain absurd poeticism. Examples include his solo Lavabo, as well as STILL WAITING_BECKETT 2050 and DÓ.
He draws inspiration from Organic juggling (Stefan Sing), Harmonic Throws (Jonathan Lardillier) and, not least, Language of Objects (Ben Richter) – methods that explore both the organicity of juggling and the effort to “de-circus” it, viewing juggling technique as a key to playfulness and a way of working with objects.
Andrej Štěpita studied at the renowned SEAD and has learned from and been inspired by a wide range of contemporary dancers and creators (V. Osojnik, M. Ronda, E. Torroja, I. Spencer, J. Hamilton, E. Ernesto, D. Freeman, J. Michellod, M. Blanaru). He collaborates with the Prague physical theatre ensemble Farm in the cave (Efeméry, Commander, Refuge…). He also works with the Vienna-based collective Artemporis (Struny) and is the author of the site-specific project Passing/Station. He is the founder of the dance and movement festival Tanečno in Námestovo, his hometown, which he has been organising for five years.
He and Lukas first met during the short project Efeméry within Farm in the cave, from which their originally live performance later developed into a short film called “MU, A dancer and performer.”
