Lunar Retreat
Nichole Canuso | Branching Paths
September 9-20, 2026
60-90 mins
$35
The Pearlstein Gallery
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.
Performance Information
September 9-20, 2026
Sept 9 (Preview)at 6:45pm, 7pm + 7:15pm
Sept 10 at 6:45pm, 7pm + 7:15pm
Sept 11 at 6:45pm, 7pm + 7:15pm
Sept 12 at 2:00pm, 2:15pm, + 2:30pm
Sept 13 at 4:45pm, 5:00pm, + 5:15pm
Sept 16 at 3:45pm, 4:00pm, + 4:15pm
Sept 17 at 6:45pm, 7:00pm, + 7:15pm
Sept 18 at 6:45pm, 7:00pm, + 7:15pm
Sept 19 at 6:45pm, 7:00pm, + 7:15pm
Sept 20 at 6:45pm, 7:00pm, + 7:15pm
Approx. runtime is 60-90 minutes. Audiences enter the Lunar Retreat experience in three waves, each 15 minutes apart, and they all end together. The performance length is 90 min for wave one, 75 min for wave two and 60 min for wave three.
Pricing
$50 Supporter
$35 Standard
$15 Students & 25-and-Unders
$2 FringeACCESS
FringeArts Member discounts & benefits available
Venue
The Pearlstein Gallery
3401 Filbert St, Philadelphia, PA 19106
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.
Creative & Production Team
Visual Artist: Rebecca Rutstein
Sound Designer: Bobby McElver
Video Designer: Kate Freer
Set Designer: Anna Kiraly
Costume Designer: Olivera Gajic
Associate Sound Designer: Padra Crisafulli
Associate Video Designer: Carlos Johns-Davila
Vocals: Eliza Hardy-Jones
Creative Producer: Carlos Diaz Stoop
Production Manager: Sarah Chandler
Stage Manager: Payton Smith
Dramaturgy: Nicki Pombier
Accessibility Coordinators: Lee Etzold + Lisa A. Sonneborn
Performers/Guides:Â Annie Wilson, Eun Jung Choi, Chelsea Murphy, Chloe Marie Newton, Helen Hale, Nichole Canuso, Rhonda Moore and Tammy Carrasco
Supporters
Producers
Anne and Ed Wagner
Co-Producers
Christine Frost Red and Michael Wax
Deborah Solo
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.
Accessibility
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.
Content Considerations
This show contains:
- Audience interaction – the audience moves through the 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.
Health & Safety
Masks are optional, vaccines are not required. More information about FringeArts COVID policies can be found here.