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720 352 2903 LEMON SPONGE CAKE CONTEMPORARY [email protected] 1. ABOUT THE ARTIST

720 352 2903 LEMON SPONGE CAKE [email protected]

ROBERT SHER-MACHHERNDL 720 771 0162 [email protected] www.lemonspongecake.org

PROFILE Robert Sher-Machherndl, a native of Vienna, Austria, has enjoyed a distinguished career in the performing arts ranging from , Choreographer, Master Teacher to Artistic Director. He is currently Artistic Director and Choreographer of Lemon Sponge Cake Contemporary Ballet, from 2000 to present.

SELECT CHOREOGRAPHIES

• 2020 Seriously Solo - Boulder JCC • 2019 Dexter - Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music & Dance, London, UK • 2019 Juliet - Boulder JCC • 2018 Gone - Junction Place, Boulder • 2017 Grasping Aspects of Shekhinah - University of Colorado Boulder • 2017 Vertical Migration Experiment - Boulder JCC • 2016 White Fields - Public Art Commission, City of Boulder • 2016 White Mirror Second Look - Ellie Caulkins Opera House, Denver • 2015 White Mirror - Bowdoin College, Maine • 2015 Rush - National College Dance Festival, Kennedy Center for Performing Arts • 2015 Rush - Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, San Francisco • 2015 White Mirror - Public Art Commission, City of Denver • 2014 Solo - Ballet Next, Joyce Theater, • 2014 Hanna - /Jugendkompanie, , Austria • 2014. Leopoldstatdt 22 - Mizel Museum, Denver • 2013 Man Made Men - Dairy Art Center, Boulder • 2012 Scarlet - Dairy Art Center, Boulder • 2011 BluePrint - Newman Center for the Performing Arts, Denver • 2011 Anilla - Chautauqua Summer Series, Boulder • 2011 Shiro Shiro - Newman Center for the Performing Arts, Denver • 2010 Vertical Migration - Newman Center for the Performing Arts, Denver • 2010 Bach 260 - Chautauqua Summer Series, Boulder • 2010 Young People’s Project - Chautauqua Summer Series, Boulder • 2010 Liquid Space - , Finland • 2010 Liquid Space - Alvin Ailey Theater, New York City • 2010 Solo - Colorado College Dance Festival • 2009 Liquid Space - Newman Center for the Performing Arts, Denver • 2009 Cello Sonata - Dairy Art Center, Boulder • 2008 Liquid Space - Alexandra Theater, Finland 720 352 2903 LEMON SPONGE CAKE CONTEMPORARY BALLET [email protected]

• 2008 Choreographic Fusion - Boulder Philharmonic Orchestra • 2008 A Strange Land - Dairy Art Center, Boulder • 2008 I Trust You To Kill Me - Dairy Art Center, Boulder • 2007 Gala - Chautauqua Summer Series, Boulder • 2007 Project Peace - Dairy Art Center, Boulder • 2006 Alien Nation - Newman Center for the Performing Arts, Denver • 2006 Mozart 250 - Chautauqua Summer Series, Boulder • 2005 Tigerlilly - Dairy Art Center, Boulder • 2005 Le Ballet Star - Chautauqua Summer Series, Boulder • 2005 Vertigo - Dairy Art Center, Boulder • 2004 Where is the Love - Dairy Art Center, Boulder • 2004 AustriaPop - Chautauqua Summer Series, Boulder • 2003 Strangelands - Chautauqua Summer Series, Boulder • 2003 LoveCrimes - Dairy Art Center, Boulder • 2001 UnCut - Dairy Art Center, Boulder

SELECT RESIDENCIES AND WORKSHOPS • 2019 Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance, London UK • 2018 Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance, London UK • 2018 Academy Pre-professional Division, Denver CO US • 2017 University of Colorado at Boulder US • 2017 University of Wyoming WY US • 2017 Naropa University, Boulder CO US • 2017 Colorado Ballet Academy Pre-professional Division, Denver CO US • 2016 Colorado Ballet Academy Pre-professional Division, Denver CO US • 2015 Colorado Ballet Academy Pre-professional Division, Denver CO US • 2015 Bowdoin College at Maine US • 2015 Lines Ballet BFA at Dominican University CA US • 2015 Lines Ballet Training Program, San Francisco CA US • 2014 Lines Ballet Training Program, San Francisco CA US • 2014 Vienna State Ballet Academy, Austria, EU • 2013 Lines Ballet Training Program, San Francisco CA US • 2012 Lines Ballet Training Program, San Francisco CA US • 2011 Lines Ballet Training Program, San Francisco CA U • 2010 Colorado College Dance Festival, US • 2010 University of Wyoming WY US • 2010 Kuopio Dance Festival, Finland, EU • 2009 International Association of Blacks in Dance Conference CO US • 2009 Cleo Parker Robinson Dance Theater, Denver CO US • 2000 Dance Professor, Colorado State University US • 1999 Dance Professor, Colorado State University US • 1998 Dance Professor, Colorado State University US • 1997 Dance Professor, Colorado State University US 720 352 2903 LEMON SPONGE CAKE CONTEMPORARY BALLET [email protected]

AWARDS AND RECOGNITION • 2015 City of Denver Public Art Commission for Denver Public Art Collection • 2010 Dance Person of the Year by the Denver Post • 2008 New York Ballet Builders Choreography Award • 2007 New York Ballet Builders Choreography Award • 2006 New York Ballet Builders Choreography Award • 2004 New York Ballet Builders Choreography Award • 1996 Alien of Extraordinary Ability by Government

DANCE PROFESSOR, COLORADO STATE UNIVERSITY, 1997 – 2000 Faculty member teaching Vaganova technique, and acting resident choreographer

ASSISTANT TO THE ARTISTIC DIRECTOR, SCAPINO BALLET ROTTERDAM, 1994 - 1996 Assistant to Artistic Director, Ed Wubbe, Rehearsal Assistant, Company Ballet Teacher, and Choreographer for Workshops

COMPANY MEMBER AT NEDERLANDS DANCE THEATER, 1993 - 1994 Company Dancer, worked with Jiri Kylian performed with company on tours to Japan

CO-DIRECTOR AND DANCER, SALZBURG BALLET, 1991 - 1993 Assistant to Artistic Director, Peter Breuer Guest Artist with Bavarian State Ballet Guest Artist with Bavarian State Ballet at , New York Choreography for Salzburg Ballet Organized charity performance for UNICEF

PRINCIPAL DANCER, BAVARIAN STATE BALLET, 1989 - 1991 • Under the direction of Konstanze Vernon danced the works of choreographers John Cranko, Sir , Ed Wubbe, Hans Van Manen, , and others • Partner to Evelyn Hart, featured in galas including the Munich Presidential Summit • Coached by Prima Ballerina Olga Lepeshinskaya of the to partner female gold medalists at the International Ballet Competitions in Moscow, Munich and Helsinki • Featured in the film Moment of Light with Evelyn Hart • Choreographer for Bavarian State Ballet Workshops

PRINCIPAL DANCER, , 1985 - 1989 • Danced the works of choreographers Sir Peter Wright, Rudi Van Danzig, Sir , Hans Van Manen and • Coached by Prima Ballerina, Karin von Aroldingen • Coached by Henny Jurriens 720 352 2903 LEMON SPONGE CAKE CONTEMPORARY BALLET [email protected]

• , Bavarian State Ballet • Danced the works of choreographers , John Cranko, Sir Peter Wright, George Balanchine and visiting choreographers

PRINCIPAL ROLES DANCED • (John Cranko) • Romeo and Juliet (John Cranko) • (George Balanchine) • (George Balanchine) • Diamonds (George Balanchine) • (George Balanchine) • Violin Concerto (George Balanchine) • (George Balanchine) • (George Balanchine) • (George Balanchine) • Divertimento No. 15 (George Balanchine) • (Sir Peter Wright) • Sleeping Beauty (Sir Peter Wright) • Giselle (Sir Peter Wright) • Swan Lake (Rudi van Danzig) • Four Last Songs (Rudi van Danzig) • Les Sylphide (Michel Fokine) • Le Spectre de la Rose (Michel Fokine) • Cinderella (Sir Frederick Ashton) • Hammerklavier (Hans van Manen) • Opening (Hans van Manen) • Trois Gnossiennes (Hans van Manen) • Grosse Fuge (Hans van Manen) • Bad Blood (Ulysses Dove) • Joseph’s Legend (John Neumeier) • Nuages (Jiri Kylian) • Before Nightfall (Nils Christie)

OTHER HIGHLIGHTS • International Ballet Competition Moscow: Gold Medal partner • International Ballet Competition Munich: Gold Medal partner • International Ballet Competition Helsinki: Gold Medal partner • Bavarian State Ballet at Lincoln Center, New York City • Munich Presidential Summit Gala • Partner to Prima Ballerina Evelyn Hart, Royal Winnipeg Ballet • Partner to Prima Ballerina, Jolinda Menendez, Theater • Partner to Prima Ballerina, Judith Turos, Bavarian State Ballet 720 352 2903 LEMON SPONGE CAKE CONTEMPORARY BALLET [email protected] 2. ABOUT LEMON SPONGE CAKE 720 352 2903 LEMON SPONGE CAKE CONTEMPORARY BALLET [email protected]

In 1996, the United States government recognized Robert Sher-Machherndl’s professional accomplishments and awarded him the celebrated and highly sought after “Alien of Extraordinary Ability” status, allowing his permanent residence in the United States. In 2000, he and Jenifer Sher established Lemon Sponge Cake Contemporary Ballet in Boulder CO.

He has created choreography for Finnish National Ballet, Vienna State Opera Ballet, Bavarian State Ballet, Scapino Ballet, Salzburg Ballet, Cleo Parker Robinson, Santa Fe Dance Festival, Lines Ballet BFA /Training Program, Bowdoin College, Ballet Next, University of Colorado, Colorado State University, University of Wyoming, Kuopio Dance Festival, Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music & Dance Moving People Dance, American College Dance Festival, Colorado Ballet Training Program and more.

His choreography for Lemon Sponge Cake includes over 25 full-evening works danced by renowned principal dancers to include ABT, Michele Wiles ABT, ABT, Minna Tervamaki Finnish National Ballet, Valerie Madonia ABT/ and Simone Messmer ABT/.

He’s been awarded Dance Person of the Year by The Denver Post, a four-time winner of the New York Ballet Builders’ Choreography Award, and featured on the MTV Emmy Award winning series, MADE.

Lemon Sponge Cake received the first dance Public Art Commission from Denver Public Art, a department of Denver Arts & Venues, for his piece, White Mirror, a site-specific performance created for Babi Yar Park. This city park is a memorial to the 200,000 victims that were brutally murdered at Babi Yar Ravine, Ukraine, during WWII. 2016 International Holocaust Remembrance Day, Denver Arts & Venues’ presented White Mirror ‘Second Look’ Ellie Caulkins Opera House. 8 TV aired ‘White Mirror’ 13 times impacting 135,000 households via Comcast; Century Link. White Mirror was created in Boulder.

Subsequently, Boulder part sponsored a 2016 Dance Public Art Project through The Boulder Office of Arts + Culture, White Fields, to address outrage at gun violence and compassion for its victims. It marked the first site- specific NOBO performance at Holiday Park. Close to 580 audience attended. ‘White Fields’ was featured on the Times Reuters billboard Times Square, New York.

His 2017 choreography of Vertical Migration Experiment fearlessly takes inspiration from human migration, a topic central to the 21st century, expressing this current and tragic world phenomena through innovative and powerful movement language.

Over the past eighteen years, Lemon Sponge Cake has evolved into a platform for artistically addressing and reflecting to its audiences the relevant global and human rights issues that are affecting the world we are living in today.

CURRENT PROGRAMS PERFORMANCE World-class contemporary ballet performances choreography by Robert Sher-Machherndl in collaboration with 720 352 2903 LEMON SPONGE CAKE CONTEMPORARY BALLET [email protected] highly skilled collaborators, delivering impactful, thought-provoking, and transformative experiences to the entire community. Population: Entire community, all ages, genders and backgrounds.

SITE SPECIFIC WORK We take complex dance projects out of the theater and into the community by mounting site-specific performances that have meaningful impact on peoples’ lives. To expand audiences by making art available to all people, regardless of background, dance exposure, or economic means. To incorporate unexpected spaces such as landmark attractions, public institutions and other place-making experiences.

Sample of successful site-specific projects: • 2015: The City of Denver awarded its first public dance commission via Denver Arts & Venues/ Denver Public Art for my piece,White Mirror, created for Babi Yar Park. This production served as education in promoting tolerance, and as a living memorial for 200,000 humans murdered at Babi Yar Ravine, Ukraine, during WWII.

• 2016: The Boulder Office of Arts + Culture sponsored my public art project, White Fields, to raise awareness surrounding gun violence and its victims. It marked the first NOBO performance at Holiday Park and was featured on the Times Reuters Billboard in Times Square, NYC.

UGGI WORKSHOPS & OUT REACH PROGRAM Welcome to all people, regardless of gender, age, ability or background. Offered as outreach for at-risk youth and physically challenged individuals. A series of inspiring suggestions are delivered, rather than structured movements. People are encouraged to explore, discover, interpret inside and out while moving in space. Population: Entire community, all ages, genders and backgrounds.

AFTER SCHOOL BALLET PROGRAM FALL & SPRING SEMESTERS Children receive nourishment in the performing arts with classes in Ballet, Pointe, Choreography and Performance. Opportunity for all children to focus, engage and forge meaningful connections in the present. Through aesthetic athleticism our training strongly promotes cognitive motor language, social growth, self-confidence, artistic expression, spatial awareness, and critical thinking. Population: Age 7 to 18

WINTER WORKSHOP One-week high-energy contemporary ballet training includes , choreography, Uggi and performance. Population: Age 16 to adult

SOLOWORKS A two-day workshop devoted to creation of a short solo piece. Dancers benefit from individual coaching to develop concise, compelling performances. Population: Age 16 to adult

BALLET SUMMER INTENSIVE High-energy training, to include Ballet Technique, Contemporary Choreography, Uggi and Performance. Population: Age 14 to adult 720 352 2903 LEMON SPONGE CAKE CONTEMPORARY BALLET [email protected]

ADULT OPEN BALLET CLASSES Open to the general public and available to all levels. Inspiring and reenergizing dancers via Robert's present energetic nature and musicality infused teachings. The relaxed studio atmosphere contributes to feelings of artistic joy and personal well being. Population: Age 13 to Adult

COACHING & PRE-PROFESSIONAL TRAININGS Private coaching and personalized tuition for dancers interested in a professional career or personal advancement. We identify and addresses individual needs allowing dancers to excel. Up-to-date injury preventive techniques used. Population: Age 13 to 18

Collaboration American Ballet Theater; Lines Ballet BFA; Finnish National Ballet; Vienna State Ballet; American College Dance Festival; Newman Center for the Performing Arts; Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music & Dance; Boulder Museum of Contemporary Art; Chautauqua Summer Series; Dairy Art Center; CU Boulder; Colorado State University; Holiday Park Boulder; Denver Arts & Venues; Denver Public Art; Boulder JCC; Kinesis; Cleo Parker Robinson; Naropa University; Mizel Museum; Bowdoin College Maine and more.

720 352 2903 LEMON SPONGE CAKE CONTEMPORARY BALLET [email protected] 3. CRITICAL ACCLAIM 720 352 2903 LEMON SPONGE CAKE CONTEMPORARY BALLET [email protected]

US PRESS “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 - DENVER POST

"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

One of “Ten contemporary companies you should be obsessed with” DANCE SPIRIT MAGAZINE

”White Mirror, October 4 Babi Yar Park hosts the city's first Dance as Public Art Commission” COLORADO PUBLIC RADIO

"Dance, Dance Revolution: Lemon Sponge Cake's don't dance around the issues" 5280 MAGAZINE

“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-Machherndl for the Dominican University LINES Ballet BFA program. How did I feel? Like I discovered a new program and a new choreographer” WENDY PERRON

“Mr. Sher-Machherndl, a former principal dancer with the Dutch National Ballet and Barvarian State Ballet, is a choreographer to watch for”

"Experimenting With Exercises In Ballet Idioms Of the Future" THE NEW YORK TIMES

“Funny, dark and provocative, Trust was a highlight of the program” THE NEW YORK TIMES

“Decidedly contemporary style that is gaining increased national attention, and deservedly so. He is an obvious talent ” DENVER POST

“A poetic and eerie performance, Gone confronts the transient nature of life through its in-transition, raw setting and emotionally-charged movement that leaves the audience rapt and spellbound.” PRESENTING DENVER 720 352 2903 LEMON SPONGE CAKE CONTEMPORARY BALLET [email protected]

EUROPE PRESS “Machherndl and Menendez, surely a pair that one will continue to wish to see together in the National Theater” SUDDEUTSCHE ZEITUNG

“A dancer with lyrical radiance in excess…” MUNCHENER MERKUR

“Robert Machherndl, a born danseur noble, who already possesses amazing versatility of expression…” SUDDEUTSCHE ZEITUNG

“Robert Machherndl generated a ravishing, bored aristocratic noblesse with elegiac sliminess and, above all, a musical penetration of each gesture…”

“Thousands of applause, cries of bravo, foot stomping. The audience in the National Theater, applauding until their hands are sore, want the dance pair to appear before the red velvet curtains again and again: Romeo, Robert Machherndl and his partner…” MUNCHENER MERKUR

“(Machherndl) is an ephebus of adolescent beauty, the ideal…beautiful, their …” SUDDEUTSCHE ZEITUNG

“Machherndl is spiritually less nuanced: he always pulls his role from deep inside. That is purer, more honest, and often more moving…” MUNCHENER MERKUR

“Once again Robert Machherndl amazed…” FEUILLETON

“… a born danseur noble” and “… predestined to be a danseur noble” SUDDEUTSCHE ZEITUNG

“Robert Machherndl seemed to have a flair for those extra touches that, as slight as they may be, add tremendously to heightening the emotions of an emotional story…” THE CHINA NEWS

“As dance, that last duo for Joseph and his angel – a terrific performance from Kajdanski and Machherndl – turned out to be the most interesting of the evening…” SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE

“Robert Machherndl, who, since his flight from the Bayerischen Staatsoper to the Niederlandischen National Ballet, has gained more character and more fullness in his dancing style…” MUNCHENER MERKUR 720 352 2903 LEMON SPONGE CAKE CONTEMPORARY BALLET [email protected]

4. EARLY

YEARS

720 352 2903 LEMON SPONGE CAKE CONTEMPORARY BALLET [email protected]

DANCER Early years Born in the historic 2nd Municipal District of Vienna, one of three sons to Alfred and Jeanette Machherndl, Robert began his ballet training at age eight under the tutelage of Hely Scholtze. At age fourteen, he began dancing as an Eleve at the Vienna Volksoper. For four consecutive years, Robert passed the rigorous Impartial Board of Examiners' Ballet Syllabus tests fro four years running.

Career His professional career began at Theater an der Wien where he performed works by Hans Kresnik. In 1980, early in his professional life, he became a soloist with the Bavarian State Ballet under the direction of Edmund Gleede.

By the age of twenty-one, Robert Sher-Machherndl was identified by the Suddeutsche Zeitung as “… a born danseur noble” and they, “… predestined him to be a danseur noble”.

He became partner to prima ballerina, Jolinda Menendez, of the American Ballet Theater. After their performance of Swan Lake by Sir Peter Wright, the Suddeutsche Zeitung reported, “Machherndl and Menendez surely a pair one will continue to see together in the National Theater”. His exceptional talent propelled him to the forefront of the dance world to master the repertoire of George Balanchine, John Cranko, and many others.

In 1985, Robert Sher-Machherndl joined the Dutch National Ballet as a principal dancer. He was selected and coached by New York City Ballet’s ballerina, Karin von Aroldingen, to dance Diamonds and Violin Concerto by George Balanchine. Also, coached by Henny Jurriens to dance Apollo. He worked closely with Rudi van Danzig dancing lead roles in his newly created work Swan Lake (world premiere) and in Danzig’s highly acclaimed Four Last Songs. He was selected by Hans van Manen to dance the lead role in Opening (world premiere).

In 1989, Robert Sher-Machherndl returned to the Bavarian State Ballet as principal dancer under the direction of Konstanze Vernon. By now, Robert had developed a large classical repertoire and was established as an outstanding partner. He and prima ballerina, Evelyn Hart, of the Royal Winnipeg Ballet were featured in numerous high-profile galas, including an exclusive performance at the 1992 Munich Presidential Summit. In addition, Robert was featured in the film, Moment of Light, a documentary featuring Evelyn Hart. He was coached by prima ballerina, Olga Lepeshinskaya, of the Bolshoi Ballet to partner female gold medal winners at the International Ballet Competitions in Moscow, Munich, and Helsinki. Robert Sher-Machherndl was a featured guest with the Bavarian State Ballet at the Lincoln Center in New York appearing on the cover of Dance Magazine.

In 1991, Robert became co-director and assistant to artistic director, Peter Breuer, at the Salzburg Ballet. In 1993, he became a member of the Nederlands Dance Theater working with Jiri Kylian and participating on company tours to Japan.In 1994, he became assistant to the artistic director, Ed Wubbe, at Scapino Ballet Rotterdam with performances at the Joyce Theater in New York. 720 352 2903 LEMON SPONGE CAKE CONTEMPORARY BALLET [email protected] 5. SUPPORT MATERIALS

720 352 2903 LEMON SPONGE CAKE CONTEMPORARY BALLET [email protected]

OTHER SUPPORT MATERIALS

VIDEO CLIPS

CLICK HERE DEXTER - TRINITY LABAN CONSERVATOIRE OF MUSIC & DANCE

CLICK HERE JULIET PROMO VIDEO

CLICK HERE WHITE MIRROR - DENVER PUBLIC ART

CLICK HERE GONE - BOULDER JUNCTION PERFORMANCE

CLICK HERE GONE PROMO VIDEO

CLICK HERE VERTICAL MIGRATION EXPERIMENT

CLICK HERE VERTICAL MIGRATION EXPERIMENT

CLICK HERE TRINITY LABAN CONSERVATOIRE OF MUSIC & DANCE

CLICK HERE VIENNA STATE BALLET - YOUTH COMANY - PERFORMANCE

CLICK HERE VIENNA STATE OPERA BALLET ACADEMY - WORKSHOP

CLICK HERE ALONZO KING LINES BALLET TRAINING PROGRAM

WEBSITE

CLICK HERE LEMON SPONGE CAKE CONTEMPORARY BALLET

CLICK HERE PHOTO GALLERY

PRESS

CLICK HERE COLORADO PUBLIC RADIO

CLICK HERE DANCE PERSON OF THE YEAR - DENVER POST

CLICK HERE 5280 MAGAZINE 720 352 2903 LEMON SPONGE CAKE CONTEMPORARY BALLET [email protected]