CONNECT – Community Arts Project, LABS & WORKSHOPS, LAYOUT EN, UPCOMING EVENTS
‘Dance to the Music!’ is the title of a 1968 song by the band Sly & the Family Stone. But what does it mean to dance to music? How can musicality be expressed? Is it by following the beat, rhythms, vocals or melodies? Or does it involve physically capturing the vibe of a piece of music to tell a story?
In this workshop, dance is taught as a sensory experience and a means of communication. Participants with varying levels of vision explore their own movement language and creativity by dancing through descriptions, tactile interactions and auditory impulses.
About the artists
Khadidiatou BANGOURA is a dancer and choreographer. Together with Sabine Kuxdorf, she has been offering dance workshops for blind, visually impaired, and sighted dance enthusiasts since 2024. Sabine Kuxdorf is a blind social worker, access consultant, performer (Diphtong Kollektiv, KHARABA & GUESTS), and audio describer for dance and theater (Analogtheater Cologne, Studiobühne, Sticky Fragements).
DATE
Sun, 15.03.2026 | 1 – 5 pm
REGISTRATION
Organizational information about the process and registration procedure
Directions
Funded by
Photo: Lorena Spülbeck
LABS & WORKSHOPS, LAYOUT EN
The training starts with a dynamic warm-up that travels through the space including variations of complex & simple exercises, steps and floor work.
The class develops into improvisational material: individually, with a partner and as a group, and rounds up in phrases that play with speed, musicality, levels and dynamic.
DATES
Mon, 16.03 – Fri, 20.03.2026 | 10:00 am – 11:30 am each day
Further dates (instructors to be announced)
10:00 am – 11:30 am each day
Mon, 30.03 – Thu, 02.04.2026
Mon, 06.04 – Thu, 09.04.2026
Mon, 11.05 – Fri, 15.05.2026
Mon, 25.05 – Fri, 29.05.2026
Mon, 01.06 – Fri, 05.06.2026
Mon, 22.06 – Fri, 26.06.2026
Mon, 06.07 – Fri, 10.07.2026
Participation in individual sessions is also possible.
PARTICIPATION FEE
Single ticket: 9 euros
5-ticket pass: 40 euros
About the artist
Ayberk Esen (1984) is a Caucasian folk dance based freelance contemporary dancer who lives & works in Europe since 2009. He received his BA from ZZT Köln , in addition to his previous studies in Istanbul and Salzburg , SEAD (2009) . Since 2010 he has been working in several projects in Austria, Bosnia, Germany, Spain and Holland with Georg Hobmeier (AU) // Flow Berger (AU) // Haris Pasovic (BIH) // Edward Clug (RO) // Georg Reichl (AU) // Jelena Kostic (SRB) // Helder Seabra (PT) // Karl Schreiner (DE) // Sandra Marin Garcia (ES) // Maura Morales, (CU) // Hakan T. Aslan (DE) // Michael Schmidt (DE) // Reut Shemesh ( ISR ) // Marguerite Donlon (IR)
In addition to performing, he has taught professional dance lessons and workshops at several institutions, including Tanzhaus Basel, the Henny Jurriëns Foundation in Amsterdam, Marameo in Berlin, Tanzhaus Zürich, Tanznetz in Freiburg, ZAIK in Cologne, Tanzhaus in Mannheim and Tanzhaus in Düsseldorf. He is also planning to teach at universities and dance colleges.
IMPROVISATION, LABS & WORKSHOPS, LAYOUT EN, UPCOMING EVENTS
How does our use of imagery and instinct for imitation shape our dance? To what extent we can go beyond the norms and patterns embedded in our dance in order to challenge and refresh our familiar pathways while moving both alone and with others ?
Our bodies are a potential of constantly opening, muting and moving energy which naturally gets patterned in relation to its surroundings, with its culture, norms and routines. During the workshop we are going to play with different kinds of imagery -both somatic and fantasy-like- in order to explore our possibilities of a bodily metamorphosing.
DATE
Fri, 20.03.2026 | 6 – 9 pm
REGISTRATION
tanzen@ehrenfeldstudios.de
Participation fee: 30 – 60 Euro (Sliding Scale)
almost finished
Recherche-, Workshops- und Präsentationsreihe von Caroline Simon & Gästen
almost finished stands for exploration and curiosity to discover new, unfamiliar, and surprising ways of “live creation.”almost finished is an improvisation format based on method and experience exchange, and the joy of discovery. In this project, international and experienced improvisational stage artists are invited to share their perspectives, methods, and performance art in workshops and performances.
Foto: Uupi Tirronen
IMPROVISATION, LAYOUT EN, ON STAGE, UPCOMING EVENTS
Hunch, a solo improvisation | by and with Liisa Pentti
In this solo improvisation Liisa Pentti is looking for leaks where the undefined, the unexpected and the unconscious are becoming conscious and shaping the dance. Dance has the potential to be the new place, a place which has not yet been, a place that is not so much of drama but of poetry. Images arise carrying the dance along and dissolving into moments of not-knowing and wondering.
almost finished – Solo-Research | by and with Caroline Simon
In this solo, Caroline Simon looks for new, unknown and still to be discovered instant composition strategies. How to genuinely address the unknown, how to uncomfortably exit the comfort zone and how to evade expectations?
DATE
Sat, 21.03.2026 | 8 pm
TICKETS
Click here for online ticketing
almost finished
Research, workshop, and presentation series by Caroline Simon & guests
almost finished stands for exploration and curiosity to discover new, unfamiliar, and surprising ways of “live creation.”
almost finished is an improvisation format based on method and experience exchange, and the joy of discovery.
In this project, international and experienced improvisational stage artists are invited to share their perspectives, methods, and performance art in workshops and performances.
Photo: Uupi Tirronen
LAYOUT EN
MOMENTOLOGY explores the moment between the lines.
Caroline Simon moves between humor and poetry, between the expected and the surprising, between body and language, between the certain and the maybe. She creates the performance live in front of the audience.
The starting point for this dance performance is the dancer’s imagination, the mood of the room, the present moment. The audience witnesses the creation, the search, and the unfolding of the dance performance. The theme is not predetermined, but crystallizes, deepens, and develops associatively over the course of the performance.
A unique experience for the audience.
DATE
Sat, 21.03.2026 | 8 pm
TICKETS
Ticket sales will start shortly.
Barrier-free access.
Accompanying persons receive free admission.
On request we offer a touch tour before the performance. Please contact us via karten@ehrenfeldstudios.de
ABOUT THE ARTIST
Caroline Simon is a dancer and has been working in Cologne for 25 years. She has performed there primarily in over 20 productions by Silke Z. In 2014, she won the Cologne Performer Award. Since 2022, her artistic focus has been on methods of dance improvisation, both in performance and in educational contexts. Her solo works Momentology and One Moment, Please (for young audiences) have been presented in North Rhine-Westphalia and internationally. She is a founding member of the European network studiotrade and co-founder and co-director of the ehrenfeldstudios.
Foto: K. Vanek
