Hidden rests without visible space

[Aaron Dalton]

Is it possible to create hidden rests that do not create visible space?  I 
have used skips to layout a series of variations but there is far too much 
white space around the barlines separating variations.  I am hoping to 
find a way to still use skip but greatly compress the space it generates.

Thanks for your help!
--
Aaron Dalton
http://perlkonig.com