The amazing Pockemon Crew swept me off my feet as they performed “That’s Life?!” at Florence Gould Hall on Saturday October, 18. By the sound of the audience at the end of their performance, I can definitely say that I wasn’t the only person feeling that way.

The performance started off in a dark room. The team danced and suddenly the lights came on and the Pockemon Crew was all wearing blue. They lay on the floor imitating a first born baby while the screen above them showed babies on their first day of life.

I felt that the performance had a lot of meaning to it and was very symbolic. The meaning of the performance was the meaning of life, and it showed it through symbols and images. First, the room was very dark, and that symbolizes emptiness. It may also mean the feeling of being inside you mother’s womb. Then, the lights shot on instantly and you didn’t expect it. Light symbolizes the source of reality and you can think of it as a baby is finally brought to the world. The blue outfits also symbolize innocence. The screen then showed babies sending a message that babies were finally born. From that exact moment, you were able to understand what the performance was going to be based on.

The dances they did were also related to the screen because they started from the floor, and slowly started to move upward. It was like they began to crawl first, and then they began to walk, just like a baby would. Throughout the whole performance, the move that really fascinated me was when everyone came together and built a stand and one guy stood on top of it as if he were on top of the world. That was amazing!

The performance was very well put together. It seemed like a narrative performance because it told a story to viewers. The story was about life, and the things you go through in order to succeed. The screen showed many disasters around the world. It showed tsunamis, fires, bombs, war and genocides. After this, the energy of the crew slowed down and they sent out a message of depression. At this moment, the music was slow and melancholy. They started to dance on the floor, again and slowly danced upward. Others also would give out a helping hand. That showed, that in life, you would fall but get back up and there would be people there to help you when you fall.

That sent out a big message to me because before the tragedies occurred (put onto screen) the screen said: The victories are transitory. But reality remains the same. That made me think of life and the problems we face. Then after the tragedies the screen said: NOTHING. The capitalization of all letters made the word stand out more. I was then able to relate to this performance. Like, if I were performing with them I would feel alive and as if I were expressing my own feelings. When you go through a lot, in the end you may think that there’s nothing left for you, and you may ask yourself why you should try to do anything. The dancers expressed this by sitting on the floor for quite some time. Then you start to realize that you are still alive and you try your best and the dancers showed this by getting back up to dance again. They got up slowly, their energy slowly became faster and then back to its regular pace. Another thing I may point out is that the time during this, the dancers were facing their backs towards each other. Before they were at a regular pace they were facing towards each other. That showed me that you have to face your problems first in order to get over what ever issues you’re going through at times.

I started to get the impression that the story of this performance was how the Pockemon Crew originated. The screen showed different places it the world flashing by in a spinning motion. Then there as a picture of Earth spinning and the word ‘competition’ arrived on the screen. It showed the crew battling other people all over the world. They brought out a pole and they danced separately. Three of them would be watching from behind the pole while one or two of them would be dancing. The people that were watching previously would come out to dance afterward, using similar moves but also moving differently and adding things. There were different flags from different nations brought to the stage. All of this showed how they were influenced by other people and other cultures and later formed their crew.

Another dance move that also amazed me was when it looked as if they were all spreading their wings and trying to fly. Then one of them took off and it looked so real, for a minute there I thought people can actually fly! After that the dance crew came together to form different figures. I couldn’t really make out what figures were being made or what message was supposed to be shown at that moment. At that moment I got confused, and I believe no one would’ve been able to understand the concept of the whole performance if they weren’t there from the beginning. Other than that, the performance was great.

Before the end of the performance, the crew changed the color of their outfits. It changed into white and white symbolizes life. Throughout the performance, the dancers would constantly fall to the ground and get back up slowly or help others up also. The message was telling viewers that when you fall you might have a helping hand, or sometimes you might have to stand alone. Then when the outfits changed into white everything came together and so did the title “That’s Life?!” It showed that life is about going through hard times to succeed, and when you accomplish that, you have a full understanding of life.

Overall, the performance was amazing and it really related to the title. The dancers showed obstacles in life and at the end they showed their victory; how they finally succeeded in life after all the hard times. Between the performance the screen said: “That’s Life?!” This made it seem like they were both asking and telling you this. But, later on they still ‘went through hard times’ and then the music stopped and played a beat of which you would hear in a scary movie when something exciting is about to happen. Then the screen showed them accomplishing their goal to succeed in life and after it all ‘C’est la vie’ appeared on the screen; that means this is the life in French.

At the end of the performance each dancer’s picture was shown and they each did a dance of their own. This may have indicated what each person brought to the crew. Also, from each word that appeared on the screen throughout the whole performance, one letter was taken out from each and formed the word Pockemon. The message was very clear and I was very moved by this performance. This breath-taking performance deserves 4 ½ stars.