Lemon Sponge Cake Contemporary Ballet
Twenty-eight-year-old Tessa Victoria had quit ballet and made plans to focus on college in Colorado, but her passion for dance revived in 2000, when she began taking classes in Boulder with Austrian native Robert Sher-Machherndl.
Sher-Machherndl, a choreographer, teacher and former principal dancer with Dutch National Ballet, Netherlands Dance Theater and other groups, quickly invited Victoria to perform with his new company, Lemon Sponge Cake Contemporary Ballet. After 17 productions, the two have evolved a special creative chemistry, with Victoria serving as both principal dancer and choreographic muse.
Sher-Machherndl’s abstract creations explore the contemporary edge within classicism and typically plumb the tensions between hope and despair, longing and withdrawal, connection and alienation. He aims to integrate pointe technique with contemporary movement to comment on modern life.
“He doesn’t have to tell me what to feel—his movement evokes emotion. It’s rare that choreography can do that without a story or a plot,” says Victoria. “With each new work, something new emerges and evolves. I always feel like I’m growing. It also pushes my strength and endurance.”
“Robert respects me as a dancer and really values my experience,” says former American Ballet Theatre and Joffrey Ballet dancer Valerie Madonia, who has evolved from frequent LSCCB guest artist to full company member.
“He takes care of every detail—from the studio to the costumes to the rosin backstage,” she adds. “He’s very particular about his choreography, too. But within that, he allows his dancers expression as artists. He wants individual voices, and he wants our artistry and experience to translate on the stage.”
LSCCB has focused on experimental work in a region without a strong dance presence. Sher-Machherndl says, “Many companies play it safe after they get settled. I don’t want to make any compromises. I want to follow the European model of taking risks instead of trying to please everyone.”
LSCCB’s next production, Blueprints—Mozart 250, a celebration of Mozart’s 250th birthday, will premiere in late August at Boulder’s Chautauqua Summer Festival. In three sections, the ballet will feature Victoria, Madonia and the choreographer in abstract impressions of the famous composer, his wife and his sister.
Sher-Machherndl plans to experiment with multimedia effects in Mozart, but for him, “movement and lighting are the most important things. I try to remove all frills and make the movement as pure as possible.”
The group has already performed several times in New York, including two appearances at the Ballet Builders showcase. But after Chautauqua, says Executive Director Jenifer Sher, “We’re entertaining touring possibilities and contemplating opening a second studio in Denver. We want to get the work out to the world even more.”
Skateboard artist/entrepreneur Daniel Gesmer has written extensively about Nijinsky for publications around the world.
