Zanders Project: The Space

Britta Lieberknecht Dancers & Musicians will open this year again the Bergisch Gladbach Culture Summer with an extraordinary dance event.
With her sextet, Britta Lieberknecht performs a dance and music piece in the Kalandersaal on the Zanders site (formerly Zanders Paper Factory), drawing from the architecture and its atmosphere. The performance, developed specifically for the listed storage hall, gives a central role to sounds. In the distinctive acoustics with nearly four-second reverberation, the subtlest noises travel over long distances. The two musicians, masters of their instruments, occupy the space together with four expressive dancers who also use their voices, movement sounds, and body percussion. In the antiquated industrial ambiance of the approximately 55-meter-long factory space and its adjacent drive-through hall they create a unique experience both sonically and visually.

Meeting Point 16:00 at the gatehouse
Depending on the weather the space can be cool

Kölner Stadtanzeiger Rhein-Berg
Wed 05.08.2026
Industrial hall becomes a stage.
A unique interplay of dance and sound at the opening of the Kultursommer at Zanders.
By Christoph Konkulewski

Bergisch Gladbach. Where do you normally greet your guests? In the hallway. The hosts’ hallway, “Dancers & Musicians,” grew a bit larger. It was the through- passage to the listed Kalandersaal on the Zanders site.

Here many visitors stood and sat and were greeted: by the soft tones of the trombone, the deep, often distorted sounds of the bass — and finally by the four dancers who moved with large arm gestures in the freed-up central aisle. Then it moved into the big hall.

A sextet, a listed industrial hall, and four seconds of reverberation: choreographer Britta Lieberknecht opened the Kultursommer Bergisch Gladbach on Saturday in the Kalandersaal of the former Zanders paper mill. Four dancers and two musicians turned architecture into art. They used movement, voices, and instruments to acoustically explore the 55-meter-long space. An intense interplay of space, sound, and dance—in the heart of the city.

In classical ballet, the movement of the arms— the dancer’s greeting on Saturday— is called Port de bras. There one trains it together with torso tilts. But an industrial hall and classical pointe dance do not fit together. Dancers and musicians, dressed in neon colors associated with workwear, used a dance vocabulary that recalled modern dance. The two musicians, who played instruments in the bass range, cultivated the music of free jazz. A musical form that is also rare in Cologne, in the Stadtgarten or in LOFT.

Already before the hall, Brigitta Opiela (CDU), the deputy mayor, had greeted the large audience waiting in front of the through-passage hall: “I wish you a very personal, lively, heart-and-soul discovery journey in the heart of our city!”

Organized was by the Kulturbüro team, closely tied to the name Petra Weimanns. She organizes Kultursommer with over thirty events at various locations in the city. No noise, maximum class: in the background Weimanns pulls the strings for a fusion series of music, dance, and art that simply fits perfectly.

This free form of dance and music is not only demanding for the performers. The audience is also challenged.

In the music there is no continuous groove, no melody, no repeating form parts. The tones of the instruments are often distorted, the musicians use their voices. The same in dance. No classical language as in ballet. The dancers, Neus Barcons Roca, Christiane Budden, Britta Lieberknecht, and Maria Mercedes Flores Mujica, unlock the space. They attach themselves to rubber bands fixed to the overhead steel columns of the hall. They pull them taut, loosen them, let them go with a loud “whoosh,” or clap them together. Thus the space—with its structure, the pillars, the decommissioned control panels, the stopped clock, the warning signs, the scale in the backgroundbecomes an anchor for the dancers, the musicians, and the audience. The vastness is evident. When at the end the dancers move slowly from the back toward the music. Or when they sit on four chairs far to the left, facing the wall, their voices becoming part of the acoustic event. Paul Hubweber, trombone, and John Edwards on the double bass stand on the other side, by the window, commenting on what reaches them from the wall. All six are highly virtuos in their own way. A part of the fascination of this afternoon.

Then the choreography: the dancers’ fingers lightly flick against the steel columns, and the extremely soft ping is clearly heard. Then a panic attack: a dancer steps repeatedly in front of a red door, the others shout, the musicians take over. Extreme volume. The ensemble repeatedly covers long distances, mostly in rapid movements, their gestures interweaving with the musicians. The entire space becomes part of the action. Modern art at the highest quality.