Promise

An experimental dance film about grief, substance abuse, and recovery.

THE FILM

With almost no dialogue, PROMISE uses dance to convey the emotional experience of relying on a substance - and how we might find ways to heal from even the lowest low.

Even watching dance gets us into our bodies - something that many people in crisis or in a toxic relationship with substances struggle with.

We have worked to combine dance and narrative to create a compelling, relatable story that will inspire conversations about grief, addiction, healing, and hope.

OUR STORY

Co-creators Lane Michael Stanley and Sarah Jack first explored dance storytelling about addiction in their 2019 piece More as Needed, presented as part of the Cohen New Works Festival in Austin, TX. Lane and Sarah each have direct lived experience of addiction that informs this work.

In 2020, Lane and Sarah teamed up with Lowell Blank at Secretly Famous Productions and the folks at Art with Impact to make a short dance film inspired by this work as part of the 2022 Voices with Impact cohort.

SCREENINGS

Voices with Impact, Sans Souci Festival of Dance Cinema, San Francisco Dance Film Festival, Dance Camera West, Poppy Jasper International Film Festival

TEAM

written & directed by Lane Michael Stanley
co-created by Sarah Jack & Lane Michael Stanley
produced by Lowell Blank, Sarah Jack, & Lane Michael Stanley
starring Erica “EG” Gionfriddo & Thomas Sommo