"Sugar Shaker" is a dance theater piece created along with Valclav Kunes in april 2005. in it, an every day object - the sugar shaker - was used to derive our entire inspiration for the piece.it is an excercise in looking past the mundane of every day things and finding what lies beyond.

Joris Jan Bos composed the sound using samples recorded with a sugar shaker.

the piece premiered for C-Scope in the Theater Zwembad de Regentess in the Hague on 7 may.

it toured South Africa in august and september 2005.

23 and 24 august - Jomba Festival, Durban.

2 and 3 september - University Studio Theater, Cape Town.

the glass is opaque but transparent.
there are 18 ridges in the glass.
that leaves 17 valleys.
the valleys are deep and smooth.
the ridges are short inclines, almost sharp.
under the glass a worn price sticker clings to the bottom.
the numbers that made up the price have faded.
in glass letters it says made in taiwan.
all around the bottom's edge are tiny indentations.
a circular line, just off center, cuts the indentations.
the bottom of the inside of the shaker is irregular.
from a distance, the ridges and valleys look like pillars.
they appear to support the lid.
the lid is metallic.
it is cool to the touch.
on the side of the lid is a groove.
the groove circles the side one and a quarter times.
the metal and glass grind and squeak when the lid is turned.
in one full turn, the lid comes off.
for now it stays firmly in place.
the lid is dented and contains a lip.
there is a slit in the metal which holds the lip.
under the lip is a perfect circular hole.
this is the only way into the interior of the shaker.
it is also the only way out...

xxx

the interior of the glass is opaque because of sugar dust residue.
here and there sugar crystals coagulate forming clumps glued to the glass.
once on top of the sugar mass, there is only whiteness.
there are millions of individual sugar crystals.
each surrounded by white space.
the light from outside forms vague white shadows.
new lines, new shapes.
with each shift of the shaker, new landscapes are formed.
new dynamics, new rests.
new heights, new lows.
new trails to wander.

xxx

in the end
it is what you see
that you use.
a subjective endeavor dependent on the viewer,
the discriminating eye of the individual.
there are no rules or structures
except for the ones you make for yourself.
the line of sugar could just as easily have fallen from a spoon
but it fell from the shaker.

what is it that brought you within the glass walls.
did the sugar lure you?
was it a trap?
you might as well have gone swimming in a coffee cup.
followed a drop of water as it sank in the sink.
been wrapped in plastic sheets in a trash container on the street.
but you found yourself wandering the plains of sugar,
constantly shifting with every shake
the landscape a lure to new discovery.
but a cup,
a drop,
the trash container
all offer these possibilities of exploration.
so why the sugar shaker?
are you lost or have you found a new way?
is that what you were looking for
that path
less traveled,
revealing itself with each questioning step?