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

KEEP WESTWORD FREE... Since we started Westword, it has been defined as the free, independent voice of Denver, and we'd like to keep it that way. Your membership allows us to continue offering readers access to our incisive coverage of local news, food, and culture with no paywalls. You can support us by joining as a member for as little as $1.