Found

Choreographer: Sam Arrow

Performers: Sam Arrow, Ignacio Jara

“Surprise” is a word seriously overworked and I resist using “gentle” in almost any context, but I have to stretch for adjectives to describe the range of what I saw and felt with Sam Arrow’s presentation of Found – a work that was simultaneously outrageous and conventional, startling and comforting.

The semi-nudity that Arrow opted for in this duet was far less about eroticism than establishing the mutuality of the partnership and ultimately reinforcing the credibility of their connection. They became, visually, a paired couple with no apparent barriers to intimacy – which Arrow proceeded to demonstrate almost immediately by incorporating one of the more astonishing things you can do in the over-the-top, freeform world of contemporary dance – actual, formal, couple dancing – which was displayed in brief moments of stylized ballroom, performed with exceptional grace and without a hint of irony.

Their response to the lush orchestral soundtrack was exuberant and joyful, characterized by grand, sweeping gestures with dramatic catches and highly stylized turns worthy of competitive ballroom. But while Arrow managed to maintain a consistent mood, they switched seamlessly between styles, coupling and uncoupling with brief elements of contact improv and free-form contemporary movement, making full use of the stage space and the separation it afforded – seemingly only to reinforce the urgent need for reconnection, where the sweep of the work was punctuated by moments of stillness and brief embraces which were achingly intimate and tender.

Sam Arrow’s Found was a daring work, not because of, or just for, the semi-nudity or what was easily one of the most authentic pan-sexual expressions I have seen.  Those were compelling elements, to be sure, but they are only elements and this is, after all, dance – with all that implies for the essentials of movement. It took Arrow’s vision and commitment to translate and elevate all of this to movement art, and the exceptional talent of both performers to execute that vision. In a program dominated by blasting soundtracks and angst-driven performances, in Found, choreographer Sam Arrow and duet partner, Ignacio Jara, had the audacity, the courage, to simply be emotionally authentic, simply graceful, simply beautiful.

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