Sissies: Something Perfect between Ourselves

Choreographer and Director Bernard Brown of bbmoves offers an intimate preview of Sissies: Something Perfect between Ourselves—a performance and installation created by, for, and about Black, Brown, and Indigenous Queer artists who have shaped the creative heartbeat of queer LA.

Rooted in the African proverb, “Until the lion tells the story, the hunter will always be the hero,” this project spans dance/performance, film, photography, fashion, and music, honoring artistic modes that preserve and uplift Black, Brown, and Queer stories as essential expressions of humanity.

Presented by the City of Santa Monica Cultural Affairs Division, in partnership with Pieter Space, this work centers Black Gay bars and clubs—spaces that have long served as homes for activism, joy, and care—as vital gathering points for support and political action, particularly during the gay liberation movement and the onset of the HIV/AIDS crisis. Through the sounds of disco, R&B, techno, and house, Queer people of color dipped and kiki’d their way into a cultural legacy that continues to shape our world, honoring a “lost generation” of souls whose gifts and talents endure.

Following the showing, there will be a robust dialogue unpacking the themes explored with the main collaborators of this work:

• Bernard Brown, Director and Choreographer
• Malachi Middleton, Visual
• Du’Ron Fisher, Sound
• Ajani Brannum, Moderator

Join us for an informal mixer with light refreshments following the performance and panel conversation.

Guests are also encouraged to explore the Santa Monica Artists in Residence, 2020–2024 exhibition in the Event House Gallery. Curated by Cultural Affairs Supervisor Natalie Marrero, this exhibition will be on display until March 28, 2026.

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Bios

Bernard Brown is an award-winning multidisciplinary artist, choreographer, educator, curator and artist-citizen working at the crossroads of Blackness, Queerness, and belonging. As artistic director of Bernard Brown/bbmoves, he choreographs for stage, specific sites, film, and opera which has been presented across Africa, Asia, North America, and Europe, including The Getty, On The Boards, Dance Camera West, American Dance Festival’s ADF Movies by Movers, Oscar-qualifying African Diaspora Cinema Festival, Seoul International Dance Festival, Royce Hall and US State sponsored tour to Centre de Developpment Choregraphique La Termitierre, Burkina Faso, West Africa. His concert dance performance credits include Lula Washington Dance Theatre, where he was lead dancer for 20 years and assistant to Lula Washington, David Rousseve/REALITY, Doug Elkins Dance Company, Jazz Antiqua Dance and Music Ensemble, and founding member of TU Dance. Other stage credits include “Letter to a Man” with Mikhail Baryshnikov, “Treemonisha” (choreographer and performer), Los Angeles Opera’s “Aida,” Penumbra Theater’s “Black Nativity,” Donald Byrd’s “Harlem Nutcracker,” the titular role in Nike’s “12 Miles North: The Nick Gabaldon Story,” and the Kennedy Center’s Masters of African American Choreography, as répétiteur and performer. Commissions and residencies include institutions such as The Music Center, Dance Italia, The Wende Museum, the City of Los Angeles, danceBox (Kobe, Japan), Santa Monica Symphony, South Chicago Dance Theatre, Dance Mission Theater, Northwestern University, Johns Hopkins University, UCLA, PST.ART, a Getty Initiative, among others. A first-generation college graduate, he is an Assistant Professor of Dance at UC San Diego, a Certified Katherine Dunham Technique Instructor, Cultural Trailblazer for the City of Los Angeles, and a California Arts Council Established Artist Fellow. The Los Angeles Times has called him “…the incomparable Bernard Brown…”

Du’Ron Fisher (DeFacto X) is a Texas-born music producer, DJ, and sound designer based in Los Angeles. After studying music theory at West Los Angeles College and graduating summa cum laude from Los Angeles Film School with a degree in Music Production, he expanded his artistry into both music and dance, apprenticing with Lula Washington Dance Theatre and training at Dance Theatre of Harlem. His debut project, The Darkest Hour (2016), marked the start of a steady output of independent releases and collaborations, including sound design for choreographer Bernard Brown’s Processing Sugar Notes (2019). In 2022, DeFacto X co-founded Black Bass Collective, an artist collective uplifting nightlife talent through various parties and community initiatives. Today, he continues to DJ across Los Angeles clubs and warehouses, release music independently, and craft soundscapes for Bernard Brown/bbmoves while building inclusive spaces for the queer POC community.

Second generation Los Angeles native, Malachi Middleton, is a Highly developed artist with extensive training in visual and performing arts. Malachi first began his artistry as a musician where he studied the violin, piano, and percussions before later transitioning to the world of movement at the age of 16. Dance is where he discovered his love and admiration for telling stories. Training intimately and immensely with dance legends Debbie Allen, Lula Washington, Karen McDonald, and Terry Beeman, Malachi acquired the importance and impact of visual storytelling, It is here where he found his voice. It is here, where he discovered his ability communicate and tell stories through emotion, movement, and silence. His unique and refined approach has allowed him to work alongside Christina Aguilara, Sabrina Claudio, Jamie Foxx, Chris Brown, Rufus Wainwright, Aluna, Moses Sumney, Vitamin String Quartet, David Guetta , Justin Simeon (Dear White People) as well as Creative and movement direct for Tequila 1800, Kali Uchis, Chloe Bailey as a creative consultant, Andrew James, and Los Angeles Contemporary Dance Company.

Malachi simultaneously studied Storytelling through Imagery specializing in Dance, Portrait, and Editorial photography. His work has been featured in Variety, Spin Magazine, and People Magazine and commissioned work for MoFA (Tallahassee FL), SOLA Contemporary (Los Angeles), Junebug Productions (New Orleans), and Outfest (Los Angeles). With his deep understanding of lighting, composition, and movement, film making came naturally. Malachi’s work is described as simplictic, sultry, refined, and mysterious. His use of silence, breath, movement, shadow, and light are dynamic and intensional creating worlds where verbal dialog is secondary to language of the body.

Ajani Brannum is an artist, educator, and facilitator who observes the forces that persist - for better, for worse, for otherwise - in and through our living. They have created spaces of encounter with REDCAT, ODC, Human Resources Los Angeles, Materials & Applications, Highways Performance Space, Los Angeles Performance Practice, in classrooms, on tabletops and screens, and when no one is looking. Born in Anchorage, Alaska, they hold an AB in English and a Certificate in Dance from Princeton University, and a PhD in Culture and Performance from UCLA. They are also an alum of the Cecilia Weston Spiritual Academy, helmed by Jade T. Perry. (ajanibrannum.com / @aajjaannii)

Getting Here

The Annenberg Community Beach House is located at 415 Pacific Coast Hwy. Parking is available for $4 per hour or $10 per day. Please pay for parking at the machine upon your arrival. Exact change cash and credit cards are accepted. Ample bike parking is available; please bring a lock.

Access

The Annenberg Community Beach House is wheelchair accessible and ADA compliant. Two beach wheelchairs will be available for this activity. To reserve, call Guest Services at (310) 458-4904 or email YmVhY2ggISBob3VzZSB8IHNhbnRhbW9uaWNhICEgZ292. For disability related accommodations, please call Guest Services at (310) 458-4904.

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