The Space Between

In the husband-wife team of Lemon Sponge Cake, Jennifer Sher takes care of the business end so her husband can concentrate on the creative end. In his latest piece, Liquid-Space, Robert Sher-Machherndl’s choreography focuses on the space between him and his collaborator, Simone Messmer, a member of the American Ballet...

By Dylan Otto Krider

November 13, 2008

[
        {
          "name": "Air - MediumRectangle - Inline Content - Mobile Display Size",
          "component": "12017618",
          "insertPoint": "2",
          "requiredCountToDisplay": "2"
        },{
          "name": "Editor Picks",
          "component": "17242653",
          "insertPoint": "4",
          "requiredCountToDisplay": "1"
        },{
          "name": "Inline Links",
          "component": "18838239",
          "insertPoint": "8th",
          "startingPoint": 8,
          "requiredCountToDisplay": "7",
          "maxInsertions": 25
        },{
          "name": "Air - MediumRectangle - Combo - Inline Content",
          "component": "17261320",
          "insertPoint": "8th",
          "startingPoint": 8,
          "requiredCountToDisplay": "7",
          "maxInsertions": 25
        },{
          "name": "Inline Links",
          "component": "18838239",
          "insertPoint": "8th",
          "startingPoint": 12,
          "requiredCountToDisplay": "11",
          "maxInsertions": 25
        },{
          "name": "Air - Leaderboard Tower - Combo - Inline Content",
          "component": "17261321",
          "insertPoint": "8th",
          "startingPoint": 12,
          "requiredCountToDisplay": "11",
          "maxInsertions": 25
        }
      ]

In the husband-wife team of Lemon Sponge Cake, Jennifer Sher takes care of the business end so her husband can concentrate on the creative end. In his latest piece, Liquid-Space, Robert Sher-Machherndl’s choreography focuses on the space between him and his collaborator, Simone Messmer, a member of the American Ballet Theatre’s corps de ballet.

“He feels classical ballet is antiquated,” Sher says. “He wants to create a new movement vocabulary.”

In the interest of crafting a ballet for the modern age, three DJs from Berlin provide their latest compositions of edgy electronic music. Sher-Machherndl also utilizes different mediums to explore negative space.

“He wants to bring more elements to his choreography, so there’s going to be some spoken word and silences; he’s really going to experiment with other disciplines within the piece,” Sher says.

Sher-Machherndl says he works well with Messmer because she picks up his movement and style very quickly, and he’s just inspired by her presence. “High-caliber artists like to work together,” Sher notes.

See the world premiere of Liquid-Space tonight at 7:30 p.m. at the Newman Center for the Performing Arts, 2344 East Iliff Avenue; for tickets, $29-$34, call 303-357-ARTS or visit www.ticketmaster.com.
Sat., Nov. 15, 7:30 p.m., 2008

Become A Member

BEFORE YOU GO...
Can you help us continue to share our stories? Since the beginning, Westword has been defined as the free, independent voice of Denver — and we'd like to keep it that way. Our members allow us to continue offering readers access to our incisive coverage of local news, food, and culture with no paywalls.