Experiencing Interruptions?

Reborn to Dance

After a mysterious pain in her abdomen, Jill’s life was saved by her own father's fatal illness. Now, nearing 50 and having survived cancer twice, Jill honors her father's memory by becoming a competitive ballroom dancer.

  • Laura deNey
    Director
    Wasted! The Story of Food Waste, Queer Eye for the Straight Guy - Editor; Hidden Heroes, Oveja Negra - Director
  • Samantha Schutz
    Director
    Land, Sea Sky Project - Director; Martha Stewart - Producer
  • Jill Worth
    Key Cast
  • Laura deNey
    Producer
  • Project Type:
    Documentary, Short
  • Genres:
    Documentary, dance film
  • Runtime:
    13 minutes 7 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    June 13, 2024
  • Production Budget:
    40,000 USD
  • Country of Origin:
    United States
  • Country of Filming:
    United States
  • Shooting Format:
    Digital Video XAVC-I, Super 8
  • Aspect Ratio:
    3840x2260
  • Film Color:
    Black & White and Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    No
  • Digital Cinema Package:
    Unavailable
  • 14th American Documentary and Animation Festival (AmDocs)
    Palm Springs, CA
    United States
    March 29, 2025
    World Premiere
  • Utah Dance Film Festival
    Salt Lake City
    August 16, 2025
    Best Documentary & Humanity Award
Director Biography - Laura deNey, Samantha Schutz

Laura deNey is an Emmy award-winning producer and editor, who tells hidden stories from around the world, with a focus on culture, environment and the arts. Laura has produced and edited dozens of hours of documentary programming including cultural work for National Geographic, award-winning documentary series for PBS, a variety of Anthony Bourdain’s series including the feature documentary “WASTED! The Story of Food Waste” which premiered at Tribeca. Laura is co-owner of Flicker Filmworks and executive produced the Emmy Award-nominated series “Hidden Heroes” for CBS and Ashton Kutcher’s documentary series “Going From Broke” on the student loan crisis. Laura is a passionate environmentalist, and has produced many short films on biodiversity and earth justice and is currently in development on her first feature documentary on plant intelligence.

Samantha Schutz is a Digital Content Creator working across independent and commercial projects, from feature documentaries to network shows, web series, and children’s television. Recent projects include directing and shooting her first documentary feature Land, Sea & Sky: The Fight for Keystone Species and filming Bill Gates at the Library of Congress for The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. Additional credits include her documentary short Abundance about agricultural farmers living in the Hamptons, shooting a special for ABC Nightline News titled Death with Dignity, and shooting for Biz Kid$, a public television series that teaches financial education and entrepreneurship for a pre-teen audience. Samantha was Senior Producer and Director of Photography for the Martha Stewart brand’s Everyday Food YouTube Channel, growing it to well over 1 million subscribers; winning a James Beard award.

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Director Statement

When you are sick or grieving, it's hard to imagine your life ever becoming actually better than it was before. Jill, mother and ballroom dancer who has lived through it all, can attest it is possible.

Only about 6% of those diagnosed with pancreatic survive 5 years, and Jill has now blown past the 12 year mark (and survived breast cancer along the way). After finding her passion as a ballroom dancer, Jill is full of gratitude, and provides a story of hope for those currently suffering.

As a young filmmaker, I took on a few wedding videos as a side gig, and one of those was seventeen years ago for our main character and ballroom dancer Jill. Last year, long after we had last connected, I got a text from her saying “Laura, you won’t believe what happened to me…let’s talk.” She was right - when I heard her emotional and inspirational story, I knew it needed to be told as a film. And I never would have dreamed that the footage I shot on my Super 8 camera at that wedding almost 2 decades ago would be the emotional climax of this film.

Jill and Mayo’s competitions are the real life “Dancing with the Stars” - referred to by participants as “the Pro-Ams.” The world is fascinating - so much intrigue and drama - and has recently invited sam sex partners to compete. Since the making of the film, Jill has already aced the Bronze level and is now winning regularly in the Silver.

Jill is an incredible woman, and her story reminds us to live every precious day with passion and gratitude. Our mission is to share this film with anyone who is feeling the darkness, so prevalent today, as a reminder that it is usually the hardest moments that most shape our potential of who we can become.