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Nichole Canuso | Branching Paths
Dance, Interactive Experience, Immersive
Connect
The moon is leaving us, slowly, imperceptibly, shifting one inch further from Earth each year.
Lunar Retreat is an interactive, multi-sensory performance inspired by the gradual distance growing between the moon and the earth. This immersive journey invites audiences to wander, witness, and reflect on how we move through care, loss, and transformation—both individually and collectively.
Created by choreographer Nichole Canuso in collaboration with ocean explorer and visual artist Rebecca Rutstein, experimental sound designer Bobby McElver, video designer Kate Freer, set designer Anna Kiraly, and a visionary cast of performers, Lunar Retreat opens a space for poetic, playful, and communal connection with the shifting rhythms of our planetary bodies. Lunar Retreat reflects on our deep evolutionary ties to the ocean and the moon, reminding us that we are all interconnected with the natural world.
Lunar Retreat is built upon gentle invitations, individualized prompts, and communal activities through which you are offered opportunities to engage along your own chosen path and move at your own pace. Come as you are. Wander. Reflect. Return.
Audiences enter the Lunar Retreat experience in three Waves, each 15 minutes apart, and they all end together. The performance length is marked under each event time below.
SUPPORT
Producer
Anne and Ed Wagner
Co-producer
Christine Frost Red and Michael Wax
Deborah Solo
The presentation was made possible by the New England Foundation for the Arts' National Dance Project, with lead funding from the Doris Duke Foundation and the Mellon Foundation.
Lunar Retreat was developed with support from The Pew Center for Arts and Heritage, The Philadelphia Cultural Fund, The Wyncote Foundation, Starich Foundation, The Suzanne Roberts Foundation and with residency support from Bogliasco Foundation, Headlands Center for the Arts, Subcircle and Lower Manhattan.
September 9, 2026 6.45pm
Preview Performance. Approx. runtime 90 minutes.
3401 Filbert St
General Admission: $35
September 9, 2026 7.00pm
Preview Performance. Approx. runtime 75 minutes.
3401 Filbert St
General Admission: $35
September 9, 2026 7.15pm
Preview Performance. Approx. runtime 60 minutes.
3401 Filbert St
General Admission: $35
September 10, 2026 6.45pm
Approx runtime 75 minutes.
3401 Filbert St
General Admission: $35
September 10, 2026 7.00pm
Approx runtime 90 minutes.
3401 Filbert St
General Admission: $35
September 10, 2026 7.15pm
Approx runtime 60 minutes.
3401 Filbert St
General Admission: $35
September 11, 2026 6.45pm
Approx runtime 90 minutes.
3401 Filbert St
General Admission: $35
September 11, 2026 7.00pm
Approx runtime 75 minutes.
3401 Filbert St
General Admission: $35
September 11, 2026 7.15pm
Approx runtime 60 minutes.
3401 Filbert St
General Admission: $35
September 12, 2026 2.00pm
Approx. runtime 90 minutes.
3401 Filbert St
General Admission: $35
September 12, 2026 2.15pm
Approx runtime 75 minutes.
3401 Filbert St
General Admission: $35
September 12, 2026 2.30pm
Approx. runtime 60 minutes.
3401 Filbert St
General Admission: $35
September 13, 2026 4.45pm
Approx. runtime 90 minutes.
3401 Filbert St
General Admission: $35
September 13, 2026 5.00pm
Approx. runtime 75 minutes.
3401 Filbert St
General Admission: $35
September 13, 2026 5.15pm
Approx. runtime 60 minutes.
3401 Filbert St
General Admission: $35
September 16, 2026 3.45pm
Approx. runtime 90 minutes.
3401 Filbert St
General Admission: $35
September 16, 2026 4.00pm
Approx. runtime 75 minutes.
3401 Filbert St
General Admission: $35
September 16, 2026 4.15pm
Approx. runtime 60 minutes.
3401 Filbert St
General Admission: $35
September 17, 2026 6.45pm
Approx. runtime 90 minutes.
3401 Filbert St
General Admission: $35
September 17, 2026 7.00pm
Approx. runtime 75 minutes.
3401 Filbert St
General Admission: $35
September 17, 2026 7.15pm
Approx. runtime 60 minutes.
3401 Filbert St
General Admission: $35
September 18, 2026 6.45pm
Approx. runtime 90 minutes.
3401 Filbert St
General Admission: $35
September 18, 2026 7.00pm
Approx. runtime 75 minutes.
3401 Filbert St
General Admission: $35
September 18, 2026 7.15pm
Approx. runtime 60 minutes.
3401 Filbert St
General Admission: $35
September 19, 2026 6.45pm
Approx. runtime 90 minutes.
3401 Filbert St
General Admission: $35
September 19, 2026 7.00pm
Approx. runtime 75 minutes.
3401 Filbert St
General Admission: $35
September 19, 2026 7.15pm
Approx. runtime 60 minutes.
3401 Filbert St
General Admission: $35
September 20, 2026 6.45pm
Approx. runtime 90 minutes.
3401 Filbert St
General Admission: $35
September 20, 2026 7.00pm
Approx. runtime 75 minutes.
3401 Filbert St
General Admission: $35
September 20, 2026 7.15pm
Approx. runtime 60 minutes.
3401 Filbert St
General Admission: $35
About the Artist
Nichole Canuso | Branching Paths is an organization located in Philadelphia dedicated to creating collaborative movement-based performance experiences. Originally founded in 2004 as Nichole Canuso Dance Company, the company transitioned to Branching Paths in 2026.
Nichole Canuso is a choreographer, teacher and performer and founder/artistic director of NCBP. Dedicated to ensemble-generated processes, her work aims to create connections across distances and life experiences. Her dedication to dance manifests as performances, installations, films and intimate dialogues. Her projects often use technology to bring performers and audiences together in tender exchanges.
- Rebecca RutsteinVisual Artist
- Bobby McElverSound Designer
- Kate FreerVideo Designer
- Anna KiralySet Designer
- Olivera GajicCostume Designer
- Padra CrisafulliAssociate Sound Designer
- Carlos Johns-DavilaAssociate Video Designer
- Eliza Hardy-JonesVocals
- Carlos Diaz StoopCreative Producer
- Sarah ChandlerProduction Manager
- Payton SmithStage Manager
- Nicki PombierDramaturgy
- Lee Etzold and Lisa A. SonnenbornAccessibility Coordinators
- Annie WilsonPerformer/Guide
- Eun Jung ChoiPerformer/Guide
- Chelsea MurphyPerformer/Guide
- Chloe Marie NewtonPerformer/Guide
- Helen HalePerformer/Guide
- Nichole CanusoPerformer/Guide
- Rhonda MoorePerformer/Guide
- Tammy CarrascoPerformer/Guide
Accessibility & Content Considerations
Audio description, OtherContact the Fringe Festival Box Office for up to date accessibility information.
This event is appropriate for ages 13+
Audience Interaction
Audience Interaction: The audience moves through the gallery spaces and will listen to the performance through headphones with adjustable volume. In some moments, dancers will guide and interact with audiences through light touch.
Audio Description, touch tours and sighted guides for those who are Blind or experience Vision Loss will be available on the following performances: on 9/12, 9/13, 9/19. ASL is available on 9/20. Contact the box office for more information.
Covid-19 Safety policy
This event does not require masks to be worn
Copyright © 2026 Philadelphia Fringe Festival
140 N. Columbus Blvd.
(at Race St.)
Philadelphia, PA 19106
Directions
Tickets: 215.413.1318
Admin Office: 215.413.9006
