[KeyStoneChapter] Possible SAC Upcoming Event: Lunar Retreat: Accessible Multi-sensory Performance

Sat Aug 8 04:36:26 UTC 2026

Hello Keystone,

I hope all is well.

I wanted to send information about a possible group outing the chapter's
Social Activities Committee is interested in organizing.

For the past few months, I've been an accessibility consultant for a
multi-sensory performance called Lunar Retreat, taking place throughout the
30th annual Fringe Festival in September.

There are three accessible performances, with 12 tickets each reserved for
the blind community. The experience features audio description, interactive
activities, and sensory exploration. The three accessible performances will
occur on Saturday, 9/12, Sunday, 9/13, and Saturday, 9/19.

All the details are below, but I wanted to point out that the performance
will take place at The Leonard Pearlstein Gallery, which is very close to
the Penn Museum. As we will have our chapter meeting on 9/12, I'm proposing
to organize a group outing for the 2:00 PM performance, which everyone
could get to after we have our meeting.

I've pasted the full blurb about the show below. If you are interested in
attending either the performance on 9/12 or another day, reach out to me
directly at sbonenfant2 at gmail.com. Please also copy Denise Johnson, SAC
chairperson, at deneese34 at yahoo.com
You can also call me at 610.212.0016.

Nichole Canuso | Branching Paths

and FringeArts present

Lunar Retreat

as part of the 30th Annual Fringe Festival

Lunar Retreat is a multi-sensory performance installation inspired by the
gravitational push and pull between the Earth’s oceans and the Moon.
Audiences enter the experience in groups of 12 people at a time and are
guided through gentle invitations from dancers, pre-recorded prompts on
headphones, and a tactile set design.

The slow, rhythmic inevitability of the growing distance between the Earth
and Moon, known as the “lunar retreat,” is the poetic motor for this work,
which uses the powerful patterns found in nature to invite people into
exchanges that juxtapose tender, personal experiences alongside the
vastness of global, environmental, and cosmic phenomena. Lunar Retreat
creates opportunities for participants to settle their nervous systems and
explore meaningful exchanges that touch on loss, grief, healing, and
transformation. 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.

With Lunar Retreat, we are extending an expansive invitation—inviting all
of us, no matter how we identify—to come together and reflect on our
relationship to cycles and grief and the natural world. To increase the
accessibility of the work, we have built relationships in the Blind and Low
Vision communities, through workshops, showings, explorations, and
conversations. As a result of the feedback from our workshops, we have
built audio description and tactile elements into the design of the show.
As part of our set design, we created alternative, tactile props
specifically for Blind and Low Vision audiences, to ensure that the sensory
world of the piece is fully available to those experiencing it through
touch. Audio description, a touch tour, performance docents and a post-show
talk-back will be available to Blind/low vision participants at the
following performances:

Saturday, September 12th at 2:00pm

• TICKET LINK for Saturday, September 12 at 2pm
<https://fringearts.my.salesforce-sites.com/ticket/?acode=ac26e22e43357d49f461320273befe68&#/instances/a0FUO00000CAhWD2A1>

Sunday, September 13th at 4:45pm

• TICKET LINK for Sunday, September 13 at 4:45pm
<https://fringearts.my.salesforce-sites.com/ticket/?acode=ac26e22e43357d49f461320273befe68&#/instances/a0FUO00000CAhWD2A1>

Saturday, September 19th at 6:45pm

• TICKET LINK for Saturday, September 19 at 6:45pm
<https://fringearts.my.salesforce-sites.com/ticket/?acode=ac26e22e43357d49f461320273befe68&#/instances/a0FUO00000CAhT02AL>

Location: The Leonard Pearlstein Gallery, 3401 Filbert St, Philadelphia, PA
19104

Tickets: $35 per person, discount 20% off with code Lunar20

groups of 10 25% off, $26 per person.
Access tickets: $2, max 4

Contact: Simon Bonenfant, Accessibility Consultant, sbonenfant2 at gmail.com
or Lee Etzold, Accessibility Coordinator, letzold at helloartscollective.com

Finally, a huge shoutout to our Vice President, Simone Cooper, who was a
participant in our preview workshop this past spring!

Best,
Simon

-- 

Simon Bonenfant

Outreach Coordinator

Hire Musicians LLC.
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