Sugar, Stone, Sea

Sugar , Stone and Sea was developed by the ARDA Collective and produced by by Dance Beyond Borders, on the 5th of December at Spaziju Kreativ. It was a series of acts dedicated to the nature of colonialism throughout history. By employing  cavernous stones as traces of a primordial archaeology , the scene set to deconstruct the very guts of colonialism. The first scene was around a stone surrounded by the evocative talk of two performers. The two artists start to bring to memory episodes of few individuals having experienced exploitation in the past. Yet they recall them with the intent of memorising or perhaps neglecting  the history of those. The scenes proceed with the setting of questions as a site of contestation  by the artists of the 4  countries ( Malta, Italy, Spain and Germany)  wondering about the real meaning of an house. Is  what constitute an house 4 raised walls around it ? Or is it an house somewhere comfortable ? Is it an house constituted by what it obstinately decide  to include and what it perpetually aims to exclude ? The questions raised  concern among the public about the real meaning of an house in our contemporary world. 

The performance proceeded with the 4 artists boosting each one the perks of their respective cultures.  Figuratively they posed the big spoon of their 'country' on the central stone as if to say 'This is the place that will allow my country to eat'. Then it almost ended with them intending to struggle to conquer the  spot of the stone for their spoon. This in a sense showed off the willingness of European countries to conquer as many territories they could at the damage of the colonised. 

The third scene was emblematic in the way in which one of the performer started to settle the stage for the 'joyous arrival of the sugar' in the world. The performer started to distribute English tea with sugar all over, surprisingly wondering about the quantity necessary in order to earn money to let economy thrive. (Start count the grins of sugar , she said to the colonised or the other colonisers, so that we will add the sums of them all and we could construct hospitals'). While offering them to the public , the other artists started to settle boats in all the countries of the world involved in the 'trade' of this 'sweetener'

There is a book that particularly highlights how Europeans and Americans transformed sugar from a rare foreign luxury to a commonplace necessity of modern life, and how it changed the history of capitalism and industry. The book entitled Sweetness and Power by the author Mintz,  discusses the production and consumption of sugar, uncovering the subtle relation of it with the European 's slaves in tropical colonies. The use of the sugar was initially reduced to the aristocracy and then as a staple of the diet for the industrial proletariat. Zooming in the quantitative and qualitative use of the sugar, the book arrives then to the contemporary of our days , to delineate the alteration of work patterns, eating habits and our diet throughout history. 

After that ,each foreign component, exposed perks and drawback of the respective culture , wondering on what it would be like if it was not for the invasion of other conquers? What Italy would be without the enrichment or maybe the invasion of the Greek philosophical way of thought ? What Malta would  have been without the history of its invasions and without the officialization of two languages, with English in particular  as the most important tool for emancipation towards the foreign '? 'We have been the nurse of the Mediterranean - but merely because of our so prompt attitude to open our bridges to anyone in need who knew we could host them warmly especially thanks to the British language ? 

What is Europe after all the conquests which we proudly convince ourselves to merit ? Is it not after all a willingness to rudely step on the other without the desire to know the consequences on the dominated ? Europe after all was a white cow in the greek mythology, and so perhaps until our days it keeps on remaining. European histories is an histories of merits obtained not through honest sacrifice but through the dishonest and violent intent to repudiate the other.

Author’s Note: This article is intended as a personal reflection and philosophical analysis of the work of Dance Beyond Borders . All references to the original work are made solely for the purpose of celebration and constructive critique of the performance. All rights to the work belong to its respective authors.

Performance attended on: [5-12-2025] > Venue: [Spaziu Kreattiv, Valletta