When the pandemic hit, most performers had to imagine new ways of working. For Toronto’s independent opera producer, Bicycle Opera Project, they decided to revisit SWEAT, a contemporary Canadian opera by Juliet Palmer & Anna Chatterton that premiered in NYC in 2016. With choreographer and dancer Jennifer Nichols (Netflix’s Tiny Pretty Things) at the helm, SWEAT seamlessly merges contemporary dance and operatic storytelling with evocative and striking imagery. Filmed on location at NGB Studios in Kingston, SWEAT tells the story of a group of women working in the garment industry and sets their individual aspirations against the demands of global capitalism. With a percussive score performed by the cast of professional singers (led by music director Geoffrey Sirett, who now lives and works in Kingston), SWEAT is undeniably an opera (there is no spoken dialogue) but, perhaps best of all for those who attend, no previous opera experience is required.