News and Reviews
ORF interview at D.ID International Dance Festival | Robert Sher-Machherndl
Meet Robert Sher-Machherndl
ShoutOut Colorado
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Lemon Sponge Cake Ballet choreographer offers free Zoom dance classes
Daily Camera
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SHER-MACHHERNDL BRILLIANTLY COMBINES THE ORGANIC—AT TIMES ANIMALISTIC—WITH THE MECHANICAL TO CREATE A SCENE AT ONCE SPELLBINDING YET UNCOMFORTABLE
Presenting Denver
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“Mr. Sher-Machherndl’s language mixes snippets of textbook ballet with pedestrian movement and a more voluptuous, organic combination of phrasing and inscrutable gestures…He allows plenty of space and time to breathe.”
The New York Times
” … emotionally-charged movement that leaves the audience rapt and spellbound.”
Presenting Denver
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One of “Ten contemporary companies you should be obsessed with”
Dance Spirit Magazine
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“Immigration issue finds expression in Lemon Sponge Cake”
Daily Camera
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“Lemon Sponge Cake and the art of Vertical Migration”
Boulder Weekly
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“Lemon Sponge Cake’s ballets don’t dance around the issues.”
5280 Magazine
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“Sher-Machherndl’s movement style, reminiscent of William Forsythe, seems to deliberately accentuate his length and angularity, which becomes striking in combination with his clear center and precise technique.”
Dance Enthusiast
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Contemporary Ballet Past, Present and Future
Stance on Dance
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“White Mirror – On October 4, Babi Yar Park hosts the city’s first “dance as public art” commission.”
Colorado Public Radio
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“HANNA with the Vienna State Ballet Jugendkompanie”
Dance Magazine Austria
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{ Dd } Short Short List
{DIY Dancer}
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“A Dance Prophet Returns Home”
{DIY Dancer}
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“Another stunner, RUSH, I had figured was the work of a Forsythe disciple, like maybe Helen Pickett, who loves to ricochet between deconstructed épaulement and the ballet vocabulary itself. Wrong again. It was made by Robert Sher-Macherndl for the Dominican University LINES Ballet BFA program. How did I feel? Like I discovered a new program and a new choreographer.”
Wendy Perron – wendyperron.com
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“For me, the most unforgettable offerings of the evening were the works by the Austrian Robert Sher-Machherndl … Choreographed for himself and Minna Tervamäki, Sher-Machherndl’s pas de deux is a study of the power struggles in human relationships. Tervamäki is the femme fatale, whom Sher-Machherndl’s male figure aspires to sustain. The completely opposing body language between the two characters and murky illumination merge to create something truly extraordinary. In a static role, the man tries at turns to understand and at others to control. While the woman is aware that she is in need of his support, she simultaneously scorns her lover’s dependence. At intervals the two manage to find a common synchronic thread, and the male, inspired by his strong female counterpart, finds his own voice”
Helsingin Sanomat
“Austrian-born dancer and choreographer Robert Sher-Machherndl is everything an artist should be: A fiercely creative, self-confident individual who exploits familiar forms for his own devices, a visionary who forces us to look at the human body in strangely appealing new ways, and a dancer who makes the rigorous and punishing seem at once effortless and alien.”
Dance Person Of The Year – The Denver Post
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“What had I just witnessed? What did it mean? Everything? Nothing? It pushed buttons. I felt uncomfortable, as if Sher-Macherndl had played puppet master pulling my strings, just as he lowered the outstretched arm of Shoaf during the dance, she would reach up he would walk in circles around her and lower her arm, this too was repeated over and over and at one point he even appears to pull her foot out from under her causing her to collapse. I had been manipulated, but I had been a willing party to that manipulation. It was sublime.”
Adobe Airstream
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“Mr.Sher-Machherndl, a former principal dancer with the Dutch National Ballet and Bavarian State Ballet, is choreographer to watch for”
The New York Times
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“Minna Tervamäki, etoile for Finnish National Ballet and an Austrian born dancer choreographer Robert Sher-Machherndl are powerful and technically strong performers enabling them to fill the theater with their stage presence and charisma. The flow of Liquid Space is intriguing. Body parts segmented into smallest detail are as unpredictable as they are captivating in their motion. In various scenes, Tervamäki’s solo performed en pointe as well as the segments performed by Sher-Machherndl were brilliant…”
Helsingin Sanomat
“…it’s important to know that one of contemporary ballet’s most interesting and creative minds is working in our midst.”
Rocky Mountain News
“Funny, dark and provocative, ‘Trust’ was a highlight of the program”
The New York Times
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“What a mesmerizing conjunction of extremes, choreography by Robert Sher-Machherndl, majestic performance by Rachel Viselli, principal dancer of the San Francisco Ballet, along with Sher-Mchherndl. Hard to resist the charm and summery grace of the Chautauqua setting coupled with brilliant dance. Worth repeating: brilliant dance.”
Elephant Magazine
“Sher-Machherndl, Austrian by birth, is now settled in Boulder, Colorado. He’s been connected to a number of illustrious names throughout his career:Jiri Kylian, Hans van Manen, Maurice Bejart, Dutch National Ballet, Nederlands Dans Theater, Scapino Ballet,-just a tiny sampling of the field’s giants with which he’s been affiliated. I find the arc of his life an interesting one, like a meteorite which, after blazing a fiery path though the sky, has landed in a relatively unknown place and, somewhere in that crater, something alien and new is evolving, not yet fully formed, but definitely something to keep an eye on.”
Dance Europe
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“…explosive, aggressive,beautiful, and in control. It’s the voice he’s been developing for some 40 years.”
Denver Magazine
“Mr. Sher-Machherndl’s language mixes snippets of textbook ballet with pedestrian movement and a more voluptuous, organic combination of phrasing”
The New York Times
“I foresee Lemon Sponge Cake being featured in venues during the summer. New York is always looking forward to new appearances from European companies. Due to his innovative material, Sher- Machherndl is on his way here.”
iDANZ Critix Corner
“Mr. Sher-Macherndl is expert at exploring the body and finding the unexpected possibility”
Theater Scene Magazine
“…deliberately accentuate his length and angularity, which become striking in combination with his clear center and precise technique.”
Dance Magazine
“Decidedly contemporary style that is gaining increased national attention, and deservedly so. He is an obvious talent.”
The Denver Post
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“The most powerful piece of the evening…three-time winner of the Ballet Builder’s award, and one can see why.”
ExploreDance.com