Upstairs, in our Bedroom

Revealing the powerful and painful intersections between twinship, blackness, madness, and art-making.

Dancemakers supported Same As Sister (S.A.S) in a month-long development residency at the Dance Arts Institute in October 2023.

Upstairs, In Our Bedroom is an interdisciplinary performance that places Same As Sister’s experiences as female identical twins of color next to the real-life story of outsider authors June & Jennifer Gibbons (a.k.a. The Silent Twins). Utilizing dance, text, mobile VR technology, and puppetry they will reveal the dual struggles to be recognized as individuals within a pairing and within a racist and patriarchal society.

Choreographed and Performed by: Same As Sister/Briana Brown-Tipley + Hilary Brown-Istrefi in collaboration with Peggy Piacenza

Dramaturgy by: Susan Mar Landau

VR Specialist: Lora Appel

Disability Arts Advisor: Rachel da Silveira Gorman

Upstairs, In Our Bedroom is being commissioned and developed through the HERE Artist Residency Program (HARP), NYC, with additional support from Dancemakers (Toronto). The project was developed in part during a 2022-2023 Plug-N-Play Residency at Toronto Dance Theatre.