A Long Dramatic Pause 

July 18
Grotto | 2-3:30 PM

A Long Dramatic Pause is a live performance that explores strategies of resistance against ultranationalism and far-right politics through the languages of photography and theatre. Performed by Cindy Ansah and co-developed with artist Erdem Taşdelen, the narrative comprises twelve dramatic scenes that describe a photographic image, never showing it directly but rather bringing it to life through re-enactment and visual analysis.

At the heart of the photograph being described is a young woman, a figure of solidarity and defiance with whom the audience can identify. As the performer moves between observing and embodying this antifascist figure, the narrative gradually implicates the audience as if they had been unknowing protagonists in the image all along. With this, their focus shifts away from the performer towards their own agency and collective presence.

A Long Dramatic Pause is a process-based project developed anew with each staging. Every version emerges from a collaboration between the artist and a new performer, guided by a set of graphic scores created specifically for the work.

The first staging of A Long Dramatic Pause took place in London (UK) in September 2025. This second staging at Contemporary Calgary marks the performance’s Canadian premiere.

About the Artists 

Cindy Ansah (she/her) is a storyteller, a vibrant embodiment of culture. A multidimensional creative, she embodies multiplicity as a dance artist, actress, filmmaker, writer, fashion visionary, and muse, dialoguing in Mohkínstsis (Calgary) and across Turtle Island. Since 2020, Cindy has been devoted to her role as Artistic Director of Not Another Political Playground Y’all (N.A.P.P.Y.), which has produced two acclaimed seasons. She co-founded the all-Black contemporary arts collective with collaborator Tiara Matusin, with the shared aspiration to champion Black artistry and collectivity in all its breadth, depth, and nuance.

Erdem Taşdelen (he/him) is an artist based in Tkaronto/Toronto, Canada. Through the use of diverse materials and media, he constructs semi-fictional narratives that incorporate unique historical figures, events and texts to implicate contemporary sociopolitical realities. His projects over the past 15 years have explored themes such as life under authoritarian rule; the theatricality and public spectacles of political discourse; migration, displacement and the haunting presence of the past in contemporary contexts; and the possibilities for self-expression and the limits of authorship within culturally learned forms. Taşdelen has exhibited at venues including The Power Plant, Aga Khan Museum and Mercer Union in Toronto; Contemporary Art Gallery, Vancouver; VOX Centre de l'image contemporaine, Montréal; Framer Framed, Amsterdam; Museum für Neue Kunst, Freiburg; and Pera Museum, Istanbul. He has been an artist-in-residence at the Delfina Foundation and Studio Voltaire, London; Hangar, Lisbon; Rupert, Vilnius; and KulturKontakt, Vienna. He was awarded the Joseph S. Stauffer Prize in Visual Arts by the Canada Council in 2016, the Charles Pachter Prize by Hnatyshyn Foundation in 2014, long-listed for the Sobey Art Award in 2019, and selected as a finalist for the Taoyuan International Art Award in 2025.