This February, Early Era Collective reimagined our annual Black History Month tradition through dynamic street and contemporary dance collaborations, live hip hop music, and spoken word. “Say That Again” combined movement, rhythm, and words to tell bold, unapologetic stories of culture, identity, and community.

Exploring dance forms developed by Black creators, this year we dove into styles like Hip Hop, House, West African, and Tap. Entertaining, thought-provoking, and fresh, the show always ends with our fan favorite all-styles community freestyle - an unforgettable participatory experience.

Co-Produced by Stephanie Patrick and Daniel Broxton, this was our third iteration of “Say That Again.” Our project was supported, in part, by the City of Austin Office of Arts, Culture, Music and Entertainment, the Artist Access Program, and East Side Performing Arts.

Austin, we’re dazzled by the experience of sharing Say That Again 2026 with you! This was our 3rd year of this Black History Month tradition, and there were so many landmarks:

- Most inclusive and biggest Early Era audience yet

- First six-show run

- Largest STA cast

Thank you to everyone who purchased a ticket! Whether you scraped together every dollar you had, or gave extra to support the show, we’re beyond grateful for your presence and generosity. We hope you walked away with a little more perspective, joy, and connection to yourself and others.

Our choreographers, collaborators, and dancers were extraordinary! Thank you for bringing the moves, words, and music that speak to here and now. You showed up with talent, presence, joy, and purpose to each rehearsal and show. Say That Again is all about unity, and it wasn’t just a performance - the concept was fully alive backstage. Thank you for leaning into new friendships, creative connections, dance forms, and processes.

Our crew was a dream team. Thank you to Doghouse Productions, Trent, Casey, Amy, and Jairus Carr for lighting the stage in innovative ways, smoothing out the audial experience, setting props, and making sure dancers were in place. We couldn’t tell these stories so beautifully without your creativity and care.

Thank you to talented photographers/videographers Earl McGehee, Corey Haynes, and Sharí Hernandez for giving us forever copies of live moments.

We’re grateful to our amazing front-of-house volunteers Alexa Capareda, Greg Burton, Miranda Kittie, Maria, Sharí Hernandez, Kathleen Fletcher, Jay Popham, Nicholas Trice, Kristine & Dan Patrick, led by Lisa del Rosario, Stephanie Patrick, and Purna Bajekal.

Thank you to the amazing staff that helped bring this vision to life! Purna Bajekal, Lily Zapatero, Maddy Leitner, Greg Burton, and Kristine Patrick, you’re the foundation on which creativity stands. It’s the day-to-day work you do that makes the production exist – the graphic design, accounting/payroll, nonprofit compliance, marketing strategy, spreadsheets, and emails, emails, emails.

All six of Early Era’s Board Members were a physical part of this show—either directing, performing, leading front-of-house, taking pictures, recruiting audience members, or taking pictures/video. Thank you Earl McGehee, Lisa del Rosario, Andre Bradford, Kali Reyna, Jen Cregar, and Stephanie Patrick for leading this company with passion for our community.

This was our most inclusive show yet, with a program translated into Spanish, ASL translation, and audial description. Thank you to Odeylis Mederos, Greg Burton, Xavier Hagans, and Celia at Art Spark Texas for making these offerings possible!

We couldn’t do it without our funders and major partners. Thank you to The City of Austin Office of Arts, Culture, Music & Entertainment, the Artist Access Program, the incredible Dougherty Arts team, and our donors. Dish Society and Chuy’s, thanks for sponsoring moments in which our cast came together over food, in human clothes.

Our show magic was created in the studio. While dance can be made anywhere, we’re fond of safe creative spaces, good floors, and working sound equipment. Thank you East Side Performing Arts, Ballet Austin, Balance Dance Studios, Joyce Willett, St. Stephens, and House of Dance.

Thank you to the local media outlets who helped us spread the word about our show! Grateful to the We Are Austin Team, KUT Arts Eclectic, Good Day Austin, KAZI FM, ATX Good News, KOOP Radio, CBS Morning News + Allison Miller, and more. To Rachel at The Austin Chronicle, we’re still breathless from your beautiful review.

Dance shows are a culmination of many many months of work, and the efforts of a generous community. Thank you for helping Co-Creators Stephanie and Daniel make this show happen!