News and Reviews

What the press has to say

Funny, dark and provocative, 'Trust' was a highlight of the program.

The New York Times

"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

"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

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

"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."

The Denver Post

This ambiguity allows the audience room to grapple intellectually, to form associations and reach conclusions without being didactic. It’s this sense of space and trust in the audience that shines throughout this work. Without wagging fingers or dumbing down the complexity of social media, Lemon Sponge Cake managed to replicate the feeling of the digital experience in the analog. That’s no small feat, no small feat at all.

Presenting Denver

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

"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

Lemon Sponge Cake’s offerings are a refreshing antidote to a culture that only serves us what we already know and find comfortable. The term “curation” has been diluted by brands like Spotify, feeding us what their algorithms already know we like. Even most ballet companies present us with dependable story ballets. The panacea for this predictability lies in opening our minds and hearts to the beauty of a new vocabulary of movement. In abstract art, what is truly impressive is when an artist develops their own visual language, and as Charles Baudelaire would say, they sign their canvas with their soul (call to mind how one can always identify a painting by Pollock – even without glancing at the signature, we know it’s his by virtue of his gestural expression). Robert Sher-Machherndl has developed a dance language that always is stamped with his unique creativity, and yes, even his soul.

Kristen Winkler

One of "Ten contemporary companies you should be obsessed with."

Dance Spirit Magazine

"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 Airstreem

"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

"...it's important to know that one of contemporary ballet's most interesting and creative minds is working in our midst."

Rocky Mountain News

"Mr. Sher-Machherndl's language mixes snippets of textbook ballet with pedestrian movement and a more voluptuous, organic combination of phrasing ... He allows plenty of space and time to breathe."

The New York Times

"The most powerful piece of the evening...three-time winner of the Ballet Builder's award, and one can see why."

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Choreographer Robert Sher-Machherndl seeks professional female ballet trained dancers with experience in

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December 16, 2021