‘The POMtastics!’ Review: Student Film Reminds Viewers that Youth is a Mindset

In an endearing tale of resilience and camaraderie, Anna Carroll, a recent graduate of the digital filmmaking program at the Lesley University College of Art and Design, shows audiences that age is nothing but a number with “The POMtastics.”

Carroll’s short documentary and senior thesis film, “The POMtastics,” showed at the Les Adore Film Festival on May 3. Les Adore is a multimedia creative network founded by Amina T. Salahou ’25. Carroll’s film follows a group of women aged 65 to 85 on a team called The POMtastics as they rehearse for a pom dance halftime performance at a Harlem Wizards game.

The film opens on Elaine Guaetta, an active member of the POMtastics, as she prepares for rehearsal. As the camera follows Guaetta, the tracking shot establishes a close connection with her, opening the opportunity to get to know her more as a person and as a performer. As Guaetta moves through her room, the camera lingers on furniture or items left out on the nightstand, exhibiting that Guaetta, like the other members of her dance troupe, is an ordinary woman with a passion for cheer.

The film regularly transitions from expository and action shots to confessionals given by various members of the POMtastics. The variety in storytelling techniques deepens the understanding of each woman in the team, cementing them as complex people with varied backgrounds but a shared love for dance and their community.

Towards the beginning of the film, Guaetta remarked that it means a lot to her to be part of “something with women [her] own age.”

The women’s age may unite them, but Carroll makes sure to showcase the different personalities in the troupe with wit. In a notable exchange, one dancer, Irene Kimball, says in her confessional that she doesn’t think any of her teammates are nervous before the film immediately cuts to Guaetta as she says to the camera, “I was a nervous wreck.” With clever tracking shots and cuts in posts, Carroll and director of photography Madeline Diaz heighten the emotional connection each woman expresses towards pom dance and their teammates.

As the film progresses, the camaraderie and love that bring the women to rehearsal no matter what they have going on seep through the screen. After a performance, Carroll’s mobile camera captures the buzz, excitement, and post-performance jitters felt by each dancer as they hug, kiss, and congratulate each other. Many of the thanks in the room fall to the group’s captain, Joie Edson, who is also the choreographer, producer, and founder of the POMtastics. As the camera catches POMtastic members hugging, thanking, and cheering for Edson, Carroll cements her as the rock of the troupe and later shows that the troupe means equally as much to Edson.

In a sequence cutting back and forth from rehearsal clips with Edson leading the ladies in quick choreography to an interview set up in what appears to be Edson’s home, she details the isolation and emptiness she felt when she was taken out of dance by a knee replacement surgery. Watching Edson talk about how eager she was to return to her “girls” takes one back to Guaetta’s words at the beginning of the film and is a reminder of the deep friendship shared by the POMtastic women. Carroll masterfully establishes the deep connection these ladies have with each other as Guaetta and other team members recall the care packages and kind words they share with each other through thick and thin.

Still, Carroll is sure to show that friendship is not the only perk of the POMtastics as she works to challenge assumptions about senior women. In a clip of Irene Kimball where she claims her sisters made fun of her at first but drew back their jokes after she told them she’d be performing for the Celtics, Carroll showcases the ladies’ competitive spirit, adding levity and humor to the short film. With a full-length performance embedded into the film, Carroll allows one to see the caliber of the POMtastic ladies, forcing a new appreciation for all they do.

Through clever camerawork, moving interviews, and witty editing, Carroll’s short film suggests both that there is something extraordinary in the ordinary and argues that what seems extraordinary should be ordinary.

—Staff writer Dzifa A. Ackuayi can be reached at dzifa.ackuayi@thecrimson.com.