A dance performance choreographed by Suchi Branfman and performed by a dozen non-identical dancers dancing about our genes, our environments, our identity.
Many thanks to the dedicated dancers, Ronnie Brosterman, Linda Sullender, Claire Bridge, Ericka Verba, Katherine Allen, SAJE artists collective, Lukaza, Reuben Branfman, Ellen Driscoll, Santa Monica Public Library and HEAR Music. Text adapted from and/or inspired by The Silent Twins by Marjorie Wallace, The Book of Twins by Debra and Lisa Ganz, Duet for a Lifetime by Kay Hunter, The Two by Irving and Amy Wallace and The New Yorker article Double Mystery.
Suchi Branfman, choreographer, performer and dance educator, has toured nationally and internationally. She is currently on faculty at Scripps College and Art Center College of Design, working on numerous community based projects and serves as Arts Commissioner for the City of Santa Monica. She co-founded Wallflower Order and Crowsfeet Dance, both women’s multi-ethnic dance collectives making dance about women’s lives. Her work has received support from the National Endowment for the Arts, New York State Council on the Arts, City of Los Angeles Cultural Affairs Department, among others.
Identical was commissioned by the Scripps College Humanities Institute, in cooperation with Scripps Dance Department and is the final event in the Spring 1999 series Twins, Doubles, Simulacra.
Prologue
Music: Glen Velez and Mary Jane Lamond
Spectacle: The Silent Twins
June (April 19, 1963 – ) And Jennifer (April 19, 1963 – March 9, 1990) Gibbons
Music: Kronos Quartet
Mirrors
Music: Glen Velez
Ten Most Annoying Questions
Music: Penguin Café Orchestra
Her Twin
Doppelgänger: Chang and Eng Bunker
(May 11, 1811 – January 17, 1874)
Music: Kodo
Autonomous Language
Music: Glen Velez
Simulacra
Music: Mary Jane Lamond
Choreographed by Suchi Branfman
Text adapted by Suchi Branfman and Nancy Graystone
Performed by Lara Allen (Scripps)
Stephanie Boegeman (HMC)
Tyler Daenzer (Pitzer)
Kami Innerbichler (Scripps)
Elizabeth Johansen (HMC)
Liz Kumin (Scripps)
Joanna Solis (Scripps)
Mina Soroosh (Scripps)
Philip Wang (Pitzer)
Videographer – Ronnie Brosterman
Sound Technician – Anne Raney