• lately

    broken image

    Austin Dance Festival

    We are excited to perform "Gimme Your Hands" at Austin Dance Festival 2024! Choreographed by Stephanie Patrick for our April 2023 production "Whirligig," three dancers move through feelings of isolation and overwhelm to find the power of community on the other side. Our talented dancers Mia Moi, Kanami Nakabayashi Timpe and Lilly Thurman will employ large, athletic space-taking and small character-building movement. Music arranged by Matt Jackson.

     

    Catch us in the 5pm professional showcase on Saturday, March 23, at the Rollins Theater!

     

    Picture by Earl McGehee.

     

    broken image

    Thank You for Attending "Say That!"

    We had an amazing time honoring Black History Month with you at our February 2024 production "Say That!" This live show brought so many beginnings for us:

    • Our first production in a real theater (Thank you Dougherty Arts Center!)
    • Our largest cast
    • Our biggest audience yet

    "Say That!" would not have happened without the support of our amazing community. We have so many thank-you's to share, and will do so once we catch our breath!

    This production was made possible, in part, by the Artist Access Program and the COA Economic Development Department's Cultural Arts Division. Show art by Greg Burton.

     

    broken image

    Watch Us on CBS Austin

    Artistic Director Stephanie Patrick and Spoken Word Collaborator Andre “S.C. Says” Bradford appeared live on We Are Austin this February! They discussed “Say That!” as well as Early Era Collective's mission, and the awesome community work that S.C. Says does as a touring spoken word artist. Thank you, We Are Austin, for having us!

     

    Watch the interview here!

  • amplify austin 2024

     

    Amplify Austin is here, and we'd be grateful for your support! Early Era collaborates with amazing artists right here in Austin to create exciting, authentic, and meaningful performances, AND strives to pay artists equitably in the process.  

    Stats from "Say That!"

    • Over 200 people attended our February 2024 production "Say That!" 
    • Ticket prices have remained affordable to Austinites, at $20 since 2018 (sliding scale $20-$35). 
    • We offer $15 tickets for Austin artists, and 1-2 complimentary tickets per cast member. 
    • 25 artists were paid equitable hourly wages, totaling roughly $20,000. 
    • Ticket income from the show totaled roughly $4,000. 

    Please consider helping us meet the gap between ticket sales and artist pay, to ensure that we maintain fair artist rates.

  • Of Thee I Swing

    Thank you for a wonderful performance weekend!

    broken image
  • We are grateful to the three audiences that shared “Of Thee I Swing” with us November 10-12, 2023! Honoring Veterans Day and the legacy of our beautiful interview subjects Albert & Virginia Sanders, Alfred Dotson, and Bob & Jewell Goolsby was a pure joy. We hope you enjoyed watching the show as much as we enjoyed performing it.

     

    “Of Thee I Swing” was produced by Early Era Collective and Stephanie Patrick, and choreographed by Stephanie Patrick, Daniel Broxton, Mia Moi and the dancers. Documentary segments were filmed, edited, and animated by Ben Lee, captioned by Maddy Leitner, and directed by Stephanie Patrick. Second camera by Andreina Byrne. Technical direction for the live production was provided by Natalie George Productions, and costumes were created by Lindsey Gerson.

     

    Our fantastic cast: Lauren Parra Faudree, Mia Moi, Jack Dunlap, Matthew Sommers, Bradi Nelson, Taylor Conaler, Lilly Thurman, and Olivia Howell.

     

    Community Support

     

    We'd like to thank our Board Members Earl McGehee, Ketan Patel, Lisa del Rosario, and Krista Robinson for sharing their time and talents with Early Era. Thank you to Greg Burton, Kristine and Dan Patrick, Teresa and Greg Russell, Earl McGehee and Jonathan White for being major production, organizational, and emotional supports!

     

    Thank you to the Cultural Arts Division of the City of Austin Economic Development Department, the Artist Access Program, and the George Washington Carver Center for providing major production support.

     

    We are grateful to the following business and nonprofit partners: Derek Posner, Darrin Commerford, and the awesome team at Bacardi Brands; Guayaki Yerba Mate; Nora Redfern, Lisa Scheps, and our friends at KOOP Radio; 6th Street Printing; and Motorblade.

     

    Thank you to our excellent front-of house volunteers: Kristine and Dan Patrick, Greg Burton, Lisa del Rosario, Ketan Patel, Daniel Broxton, Fay Leonard, Amelia Bachofen, Laney Phillips, Brandon Caltrider, Angie Zhang, Ashley Sikes, Enjay Brown, Katie Lowen, and Aubrey Turner.

     

    We are grateful to you all for making this production happen - we couldn’t have done it without you!

  • Milez

    Featuring Austin-based hip-hop duet Magna Carda, eight Early Era dancers inspect the systems by which we abide, and the sameness required of average people to operate within those systems. Our artists must decide whether to stay within the boxes that confine them or break free.

  • About the Film

    "Milez" was truly a pandemic creation. We rehearsed and choreographed online and shot each dancer separately, creating limitations that allowed us to design a truly unique visual experience. “Milez” was made by an incredibly talented team that needed community and art during the isolation of lockdown, and to make noise in a world that values silence.

    Produced by: Early Era Collective and Stephanie Patrick
    Co-Directed by: Stephanie Patrick and Ben Lee
    Co-Choreographed by: Daniel Broxton and Stephanie Patrick
    Director of Photography and Editor: Ben Lee

    Danced by: Daniel Broxton, Lauren Parra Faudree, Mia Moi, Michelle Barfield, Jairus Carr, Jaylin Lane, Ciceley Fullylove, and Stephanie Patrick
    Poster design by: Ketan Patel

    Featuring Magna Carda and their original song "Milez."

    Festivals

    "Milez" was featured at 11 film festivals in 2022 and 2023:

    • Dance on Camera Festival (New York City, NY)
    • Dance Camera West (Los Angeles, CA)
    • San Francisco Dance Film Festival
    • Capitol Dance & Cinema Festival (Washington D.C.)
    • Austin Dance Festival
    • deadCenter Film Festival (Oklahoma City, OK)
    • Hyperreal Film Club (Austin, TX)
    • The Martha's Vineyard Film Festival
    • Film Fest Petaluma
    • AV Fest (Healdsburg, CA)
    • The Front Fest (Austin, TX)
  • Whirligig

     

    Thank you to the three sold out audiences that came to "Whirligig!" Sponsored by Bacardi, this April 2023 live production at Factory On 5th showcased the creativity, fun, and professionalism of Austin's dance community through six brand new works by Lisa del Rosario, Daniel Broxton, Mia Moi, Jairus Carr, and Stephanie Patrick.
     

    16 dancers brought this production to life: Cara Cook, Lisa Schreck, Veronica DeWitt, Fay Leonard, Clay Moore, Angelina de Leon, Aubrey Turner, Amelia Bachofen, Matthew Sommers, Bradi Nelson, Sanchita Sharma, Rachel Culver, Mia Moi, Kanami Nakabayashi Timpe, Amanda Anstey, and Katie Lowen.


    Lighting Design by Natalie George Productions. Footage by Earl McGehee. Edit by Clare Schweitzer. Music by UNCOMMEN, Gareth Donkin.

     

  • Early era collective

    A Bit About Us...

     

    Early Era Collective’s mission is to present multiform art featuring diverse perspectives for diverse audiences. We believe that professional creative work is strongest when collaboratively made by individuals with a variety of training, artistic processes, expertise, lived experience, and world views. Early Era is a dance company, comprised of dancers from contemporary, hip-hop, tap, and ballet backgrounds. We also collaborate with filmmakers, spoken word artists, actors, and singers. Many of our productions carry a social justice message folded into their artistry, emphasizing personal stories over politics.

     

    Our company creates:

    • Live shows for Austin audiences.
    • Dance films featured at festivals worldwide.
    • Thoughts That Move - community artist interviews discussing the intersection of race and arts industries in Austin.
    • Embolden Workshop Series - donation-based artist development workshops, created in partnership with Salvage Vanguard Theater and Ground Floor Theatre.

    Awards and honors include:

    • Dance film "Milez" has been accepted into eleven 2022-2023 film festivals nationwide, including Dance on Camera Festival at Lincoln Center in New York City. Received the Local Favorite Award at the 2022 Austin Dance Festival.
    • Artistic Director Stephanie Patrick received the 2019 nomination for the Austin Chronicle's Best Choreographer/Dancer.
    • Dance film "They Go Wild" was featured in three national/international film festivals in 2019.

    EEC was founded in Fall 2018, and became a 501(c)3 organization in March 2019. Concepts and direction are provided by Stephanie Patrick, the founder and former director of Stephanie Patrick Dance (founded in 2012) of San Francisco, Asheville, and Austin. Stephanie brings those artistic successes and her strong vision to EEC. Early Era is organized as a nonprofit organization to best support its collaborating artists.

     

  • Thoughts That Move

    Created by Daniel Broxton, Lauren Parra Faudree, and Stephanie Patrick during the pandemic, Thoughts That Move is an artist discussion series that reveals how the arts and race intersect in Austin. Over 50 artists have been featured across three seasons of interviews. View our Season Three episodes below.

     

    Episode flyers designed by Ketan Patel. Theme music by Magna Carda.

  • Creativity & Social Justice

    Featured guests engage in a poignant talk about artists’ roles in social justice-themed art, and challenge the expectation for Black and African American artists to explore racism in their work.

     

    Host: Stephanie Patrick

    Featured Guests: Alyssa Dillard, Amber Wilson, Andre Bradford and Chinwe Okorie

    Edited by: Daniel Broxton and Chinwe Okorie

    equity in arts funding: what is 'reputable?'

    Four guests discuss fair pay for artists, whether college degrees are necessities, what they wish they had learned while training, and the cycle of big companies receiving funding over emerging artists.

     

    Host: Daniel Broxton

    Featured Artists: Will Walker, Lucy Wilson, Alisa Guardiola, and Marina DeYoe-Pedraza

    Edited By: Daniel Broxton

    creating in a white world

    Five artists discuss what it’s like to train and create in white-centered arts industries, and the change they'd like to see in Austin and the larger arts world.

    .

    Host: Lauren Parra Faudree

    Featured Artists: Alexa Capareda, Andreina Byrne, Becky Nam, Mia Moi, and Anna Reyes

    Edited by: Daniel Broxton

    Race & Ethnicity in arts education

    Current and former teachers discuss the necessity of aligning racial and ethnic studies with arts education for students of all ages, both in the public and private sectors.

     

    Host: Daniel Broxton

    Featured Artists: Jordyn Marsh, Toni Neal, Krista Robinson, Rebeca Gamborino, and Kathleen Fletcher.

    Edited By: Daniel Broxton

    Triple Threat: Black, Female & Creative

    An intimate conversation between Kaitlyn Jones and Leah Tubbs that covers topics like self-care, lineage, energizing artistic communities of color, and when to say “no.”

     

    Host: Kaitlyn Jones

    Featured Artist: Leah Tubbs

    Edited by: Daniel Broxton

    Captioned by: Lauren Parra Faudree

    tap: a thriving black american art form

    Four professional tap artists discuss the history of rhythm tap, the responsibility of white artists in a Black art form, and discovering your authentic artistic identity.

     

    Host: Michael Love

    Featured Artists: Karissa Royster, Ginnifer Joe, Alisa Guardiola

    Edited by: Daniel Broxton

    Caption by: Lauren Parra Faudree

  • Films

    Peep some of our film creations.

  • They Go Wild

    Warning: A natural disaster is coming. In "They Go Wild," Early Era Collective parallels wild landscape with the reckless treatment of womxn, and what might happen when they will no longer endure.

    Directed By: Stephanie Patrick
    Director of Photography: Ben Lee
    Danced By: Lauren Parra Faudree and Laura Vazquez
    Spoken Word (Written & Performed) By: Amber Wilson
    Second Camera: Derek Butvin
    Edited By: Ben Lee and Stephanie Patrick

     

    "They Go Wild" was featured in the 2019 Oaxaca Film Festival, Directed by Women: NYC Shorts of All Sorts, and the Tipperary Dance International Film Festival.

    finding home

    A commissioned work by Equality Texas that honors our Black and LGBTQIA loved ones lost to violence in 2020. A big thank you to Equality Texas for including Early Era in their virtual gala, All Eyes on Texas, on October 17th, 2020! We were proud to help fundraise for such an important cause, and to honor Black and LGBTQIA lives lost to violent crimes in 2020 through words and movement.

     

    Words By: Addy Allred and Andre Bradford

    Dancing By: Mia Moi, Kaitlyn Jones, Ciceley Fullylove, Lauren Parra, Stephanie Patrick, and Jairus Carr

    Shot and Edited By: Ben Lee

    Produced, Directed & Choreographed By:

    Stephanie Patrick

    Work in progress

    With 23 hours, 19 dancers, and 2 directors, we made 9 new dance film pieces in one weekend! In late February, Early Era embarked on a new journey, creating a piece about the lives of people who immigrate to the U.S. This show was delayed due to the pandemic, and is slated to be performed in 2024.

    Of Thee I Swing teaser

    Of Thee I Swing combined filmed interviews of World War II veterans and civilians with live dance. We created an evening-length piece using multi-form dance, costumes, and music from the 40s to align that era with now.

     

    This production was presented at Wright Bros. Brew & Brew. Funded in part by the City Of Austin's Cultural Arts Division.

     

    Filmed & Edited By: Ben Lee

    Second Camera & Costume Designer: Andreina Byrne

    Directed, Produced & Co-Choreographed By: Stephanie Patrick

    Danced By: Lauren Parra Faudree, Daniel Broxton, Jaylin Lane, Michelle Barfield, Mia Moi, Rachel Nayer, Jairus Carr

    Against Shadows

    Ten performers in five scenes explore racial and gender discrimination against graffiti sites in Austin and San Francisco.

     

    Filmed & Co-Edited By: Justin Kirchhoff

    Produced, Directed, Co-Choreographed & Co-Edited By: Stephanie Patrick

    Danced & Co-Choreographed By: Lauren Parra Faudree, Krista Robinson, Alex Miller, Mahalaya Tintiangco-Cubales, Kyle Limin, Leslie Panitchpakdi, Robin Nariyoshi, Michael Love, Alyssa Myers, Stephanie Patrick

    Assistant Directed By: Maddie Alfaro

     

    View full project at: 

    https://vimeo.com/showcase/7164800

    I Begin

    "I am literally smiling, now. I am really, truly filled with joy watching this. It exudes the joys of coming home. It's not quite like anything I've seen before. It feels like each of the places themselves are Stephanie’s dance partners, with Texas being her final, real partner. I did not see her dancing IN a place, as much as WITH a place." -Kathryn Taylor, viewer

     

    This is a Stephanie Patrick Dance film, which was the pre-cursor company to Early Era Collective. Danced & Edited By Stephanie Patrick. Filmed By Rafael Alba and David Kallison. Music by Diana Gameros.

  • Shows

    Glimpse some of our recent live works.

  • Of Thee I Swing

    It was a joy to honor Veterans Day and the legacy of our beautiful interview subjects Albert & Virginia Sanders, Alfred Dotson, and Bob & Jewell Goolsby in "Of Thee I Swing" in November 2023.

     

    “Of Thee I Swing” was produced by Early Era and Stephanie Patrick. Choreographed by Stephanie Patrick, Daniel Broxton, Mia Moi and the dancers. Documentary segments were filmed, edited, and animated by Ben Lee, captioned by Maddy Leitner, and directed by Stephanie Patrick. Second camera by Andreina Byrne.

     

    Technical direction for the live production by Natalie George Productions. Costumes by Lindsey Gerson.

     

    Our fantastic cast: Lauren Parra Faudree, Mia Moi, Jack Dunlap, Matthew Sommers, Bradi Nelson, Taylor Conaler, Lilly Thurman, and Olivia Howell.

    broken image

    Smorg

    Produced by Emily Rushing and Carissa Topham, "Smorg" showcased some of the variety that Austin's contemporary dance community has to offer. Early Era Collective premiered "Doubts & Dreams" for this April 2023 show at Cafe Dance.

     

    Choreographed by Stephanie Patrick and the dancers. Danced by Matthew Sommers, Cara Cook, Rachel Culver, Sanchita Sharma, and Bradi Nelson. Picture by Earl McGehee.

    Shift

    "Shift" took place at ElectrikCITY Dance Movement in June 2022. Featuring multiple forms of dance styles, spoken word, and dance film, "Shift" was about the life transitions and change that come for all of us.

     

    Performed by Mia Moi, Michelle Barfield, Lauren Parra Faudree, Jaylin Lane, Jairus Carr, Becky Nam, and Stephanie Patrick. Spoken word by Andre Bradford. Choreography by Stephanie Patrick, Daniel Broxton and the dancers.

     

    "Proceed With Caution" was choreographed by Stephanie Patrick + the dancers. Footage by Earl McGehee and Stephanie Patrick. Edited by Stephanie Patrick.

    broken image

    Lookout fest

    Early Era Collective performed at The Long Center's LookOUT Fest in September 2022.

     

    Performed by Mia Moi, Michelle Barfield, Lauren Parra Faudree, Jaylin Lane, Jairus Carr and Taylor Conaler. Choreography by Stephanie Patrick, Daniel Broxton and the dancers. Pictures by Heather Arnos and Earl McGehee.

    Blurred on All Sides

    "Blurred on All Sides" was our first show back from the pandemic lockdown in December 2021, at The Gift. This show was our most mulitform yet, combining multiple styles of dance, spoken word, acting, singing, film, and photography.

     

    Danced by Lauren Parra Faudree, Mia Moi, Jaylin Lane, and Michelle Barfield. Spoken word by S.C. Says (Andre Bradford). Acting by S.C. Says (Andre Bradford) and Stephanie Patrick. Singing & Direction by Stephanie Patrick. Choreogaphy by Stephanie Patrick and the dancers.

     

    Choreographed by Stephanie Patrick and the dancers, "Back At It" celebrates the return to gathering, celebrating, and sharing art together. Footage by Tori Nunn.

  • Black lives matter

    Black Lives Matter

     

    In light of the murders of George Floyd, Mike Ramos, and so many other Black and African Americans lost to police brutality, our company acknowledges and joins the fight for justice for our Black brothers and sisters.

    In a country that claims to be one nation and touts justice for all, this tradition of violence is simply unacceptable. It is clear that the roots of racism need to be examined and swiftly removed. Our art form, local community, and company would not be what they are without the innovations and talents of Black dancers, musicians, and spoken word artists.

    In one of the most segregated cities, we recognize the disparities young Black dancers face in accessing training, and the factors that hinder Black professionals from producing work. As part of this community we are advocating for change, and we welcome feedback from Austin’s artists and citizens of color.

    Black lives matter. We see you, we stand with you, and we are in this ongoing and important fight for justice.

     

  • Contact

    We'd love to hear from you! Please reach out for booking inquiries, questions about Early Era Collective, or if you'd like to receive updates about our events.