early era collective
Collaborative Performance Art
in Austin, Texas
News
Giving Tuesday + Auditions
Support Us This Giving Tuesday!
It’s Giving Tuesday and we’d love your support in bringing professional social-justice oriented performance art to Austin! In 2024, we are producing at least two live dance shows, multiple short documentary and dance films, and two community programs that will support Austin artists.
Please consider sending a gift of any size today by clicking the picture, or scrolling below to our Donate section!
Audition for Early Era
Early Era Collective is auditioning hip hop dancers on Saturday, December 2 for our upcoming production! We're looking for adult (18+) professional dancers who are excellent at learning choreography and freestyling, and are interested in pushing themselves artistically through hip hop/contemporary collaborations.
Click the picture to learn more and register today!
Of Thee I Swing
Thank you for a wonderful performance weekend!
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.
leadership
Early Era Board Members fundraise, contribute specialized services, and provide valuable expertise for our company. Click each picture to learn more about our awesome team.
Stephanie Patrick, Director
Ketan Patel, Board Member
Lisa del Rosario, Board Member
Earl McGehee, Board Member
Krista Robinson, Board Member
We'd be so grateful for your support of our 5th season!
Gifts of all sizes appreciated.
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.
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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.
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.
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.
Embolden Workshop Series
Created in partnership with Salvage Vanguard Theater and Ground Floor Theatre, Embolden Workshops are donation-based professional development for artists. Featured speakers are local nonprofit/arts business owners, artists from multiple mediums, and professional fundraisers. Through Embolden, we strive to help Austin artists empower themselves to gain the business skills that we were never taught, prevent burnout, and build community. We hope to reimagine and resume this program in 2024.
Flyer design by Embolden Co-Creator Marina DeYoe-Pedraza.
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.Photos
Films + Shows
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.
© Early Era Collective 2023