The Garden of Forking Path is a movement and sound installation that leads audience members via audio prompts on a headset through a sprawling fabric labyrinth in the Bok building in South Philadelphia. The Bok, a former school built in the Art Deco style, inspired Nichole Canuso Dance Company to create an experience that blurs the lines between audience and performer as they engage with the unique architecture of the building and with the South Philadelphia neighborhood in which it is situated.

The original version premiered in Old City Philadelphia at Power Plant productions in 2013. Influenced by the surrounding neighborhood, the tracks for this new version of the show have been translated to Spanish and Cambodian. This was done by working with neighborhood associations, professional translators, and a group of students from the school across the street from the Bok, the Southwark School. These students will be additional performers in the The Garden of Forking Paths. The project also includes audio interviews with residents from the surrounding neighborhoods that can be heard in specific moments in the experience. The Garden of Forking Paths was performed at the Bok from May 10th through June 17th in 2017.

This piece was originally inspired by Italo Calvino’s “Invisible Cities” and The Luis Borges short story “The Garden of Forking Paths”.  After it’s debut in Old City Philadelphia,  it toured as a shortened version to Saratoga Springs, NY, the American Repertory Theater / Harvard University, Boston, MA and The Clarice at University of Maryland.

The Garden of Forking Paths is made possible by the generous support from the William Penn Foundation’s New Audiences/New Places Grant, The Staritch Foundation in memory of Binnie Ritchie Holum, our donors of GoFundMe, and supported by TicketLeap.

The original development of The Garden was made possible by the generous support of the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, the National Endowment for the Arts, the Wyncote Foundation, the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts, the Suzanne Roberts Cultural Development Fund, and our fabulous band of Kickstarter backers.  Development of the work was supported by Creative residencies at Millay Colony for the Arts (NY) and was developed, in part, with assistance from The Orchard Project, a program of The Exchange (www.exchangenyc.org) .

CONCEIVED, WRITTEN AND DIRECTED by Nichole Canuso
CHOREOGRAPHED by Nichole Canuso in collaboration with the ensemble
COMPOSER & SOUND DESIGNER: Michael Kiley
CONTRIBUTING COMPOSER & SOUND DESIGNER: James Sugg
PERFORMERS: Nichole Canuso, Eun Jung Choi, Jenny Huynh, Simon Canuso Kiley, Anita Koy, Jenson Titus Lavallee, Scott McPheeters, Rhonda Moore, Chanina Nugroho, KimLynn Nguyen, Guillermo Ortega , Alexson Sok, Annie Wilson, Andalyn Young
CONTRIBUTING WRITERS: Jackie Sibblies Drury, Anna McDonald
SET DESIGN: Anna Kiraly
LIGHTING DESIGN: Masha Tsimring
COSTUME DESIGN: Rebecca Kanach and Tara Webb
PROP DESIGN: Emily Schuman
PRODUCTION MANAGER: Robin Stamey
STAGE MANAGER: Elaina DiMonaco
OUTREACH COORDINATOR: Lanica Angpak
ASSISTANT OUTREACH AND YOUTH COORDINATOR: Cecilia Valadez
TRANSLATORS: Jose Guillermo Ortega Tanus, Angkeakeo Hak, Cecilia Valadez
VOICES IN RECORDINGS: Ana Acosta, Deborah Block, Nichole Canuso, Emmanuelle Delpech, David Disbrow, Camill Fernandez, Elba Hevia y Vaca, Makoto Hirano, Simon Canuso Kiley, Michael Kiley, Anita Koy, Putery Long, John Luna, Julianna Mendez, Houn Nhan, Derick Sananikone, Irene Sanchez, Nyta Teap, Sopheaktra Theng, Phorllie Tsen, Drew Tsen, Dito Van Reigersberg, Les Rivera, James Sugg.

For bios, please click HERE.

Photos by Kate Raines