Black on Black

Dallas Black Dance Theatre brings Black on Black to DBDT Studios on Friday, December 4 and Saturday, December 5, 2026, both nights starting at 7:30 PM. The two performances are part of the company's 2026/2027 Anniversary Season, and this particular evening is a bit different from their usual bills: it's the one where the dancers take the lead. Instead of performing choreography handed down to them, they step into the role of choreographers themselves, taking creative control to share their own original works.

This is a showcase of the company's dancers as creators. The program features work by Anna Rotllant-Estelrich and Jemari Neal, and the night is presented as part of DBDT: Encore!, the company's showcase-performance series. It's a good way to see the people you usually recognize on stage as performers showing what they can do when they're the ones calling the shots. The evening doesn't end with the final bow, either—there's an afterparty with a live DJ to keep things going after the dancing stops.

It helps to know the company behind it. Dallas Black Dance Theatre was founded in 1976 by Ann Williams, making it the oldest continuously operating professional dance company in Dallas, the largest in the city, and the fourth-largest Black dance company in the country. Over the years, they've performed for more than 5 million arts patrons and 3 million students, with stops at the Lincoln Center, the Kennedy Center, and Broadway, and performances for figures like Queen Elizabeth II and Nelson Mandela. Interim Artistic Director Richard A. Freeman Jr. leads the company, which still stages DanceAfrica, its annual celebration of African dance and culture.

Black on Black runs Friday, December 4 and Saturday, December 5, 2026, at 7:30 PM at DBDT Studios, 2700 Ann Williams Way, in the heart of the Dallas Arts District.