Meet our Solo, Solo, Together Choreographers
Welcome our Solo, Solo, Together Choreographers: Old Baby/May Su, Susie Gray, Peggy Leung, Ryland Mallari,
Lance Lim and Nico Gruzling! We are excited to have our 6 amazing choreographers joining us through our
choreographic mentorship.
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Over the next four months, these artists will be busy in the studio working on their own solo choreography through workshops, rehearsals, and peer to peer feedback session. The project will culminate in a public studio showing in April 2026.
Old Baby/May Su (she/her)
My name is Old Baby(May Su, she/her). I may be old chronologically, but still young like a baby cognitively..try.. Born with fiery passion for dancing, however raised by loving but extremely traditional parents: No dancing! After my parents’ passing, I started to dance, but ABDP didn’t exist. Also gotta work hard to survive, I only danced on days off at home self-direct aimlessly.
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Luckily, I found ABPD at the end of 2018 & attended consistently. I learned a lot under their modern method of improv+basic guidelines. Unfortunately, Pandemic & my nearly-death injury stopped me dancing for 2yrs+. Re-enrolled ABDP end of 2024, totally broken with hug physical & emotional damages, dancing helps healing. “PERSEVERANCE TO STRIVE FOR BETTER “ I am confident I‘ll develop my unique solo genre!
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Susie Gray (she/her)
Susie Gray (she/her) loves discovering new rhythms and new ways to move. She has been in and out of dance throughout her life starting with ballet and later moving on to contemporary improvisation, but she has also attended classes and workshops in
Pilates, yoga, Zumba, tai chi, karate, Aikido, jazz, Bharata natyam, West African dance,
and numerous indigenous dance styles. Her first ever dance performance was as part of Karen Jamieson's work Collision in 2011. Shortly after that, Susie joined the Roundhouse Community Dancers and then the All Bodies Dance Project in 2022 where she participated in the recent performances of Constellations and The Garden.
When not dancing, she is often writing and loves to explore the connection between music, movement, and words.
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Peggy Leung (she/her)
Peggy Leung is a dance artist whose passion for the creative process, combined with
her training in contemporary dance, contact improvisation and ensemble-based improvisation, have translated into years of involvement in community-engaged practice as a performer and collaborator with people of all ages and abilities. These include Foolish Operations and the All Bodies Dance Project. She has also performed in works choreographers including Naomi Brand, Julie Lebel, Carolina Bergonzoni, Miriam Colvin, Andrea Cowden, Rianne Svelnis and Emmanuel Jouthe.
... A portrait of Peggy (she/her), an Asian person with warm beige skin, long black hair, and dark brown eyes pictured from the chest up. Peggy is wearing a black shirt printed with colourful flowers and leaves under a dark grey cardigan. She is smiling brightly into the camera with an expression of joy and happiness.
Ryland Mallari (any pronouns)
Hello, my name is Ryland (any pronouns).
I have been dancing since I was a kid. I always loved music and moving to the beat. My mom tells me that a friend gave her a pair of tap shoes that her daughter had outgrown and she put them on my feet. I immediately started to tap. She says I cried when she took them off. She started calling me happy feet because I was always dancing. I took tap lessons from age 5-8 until the teacher I loved left the school. I also did ballet and hip hop briefly at that dance school. I continued dancing in high school. I choreographed and performed a solo which I won a judges choice award for. This was my first time choreographing my own piece and performing a solo. I joined All Bodies in 2019 when Harmanie came to the Sarah McLachlan School of Music to teach a dance class with Ben, one of my instructors from music school. The first class with All Bodies was in 2022 at Trout Lake. We performed in the park at a festival. I had so much fun meeting so many new people. I performed in Between us and Them back in December 2024.
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Lance Lim (he/him)
Lance Lim is a disabled interdisciplinary artist living and working on the unceded territory of the Musqueam, Sḵwx̱wú7mesh, and Tsleil-Waututh Nations. Lance is a local artist who grew up in the Strathcona district and his original movement background came from studying martial arts and Wu shu. As a former Wu Shu athlete, he competed in North American tournaments until he suffered major injuries. This brought him to study dance at Simon Fraser University. He had several student pieces displayed at student shows. In 1998, he was involved with the Chinese Cultural Centre and worked with other artists on Self Not Whole, a showcase of Canadian Asian artists.
He also has had his choreography displayed in Dancing on the Edge and most recently as part of the Heart of the City Festival. He is a teaching assistant and associate artist with All Bodies Dance Project.
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Nico Gruzling (they/them)
Nico Gruzling (they/them) has been dancing with ABDP for 10 years. A reformed academic, Nico’s path wandered from mathematics to fashion design before landing in comedy performance. ABDP has been a space to explore movement, connection, and creative curiosity, both on and off the dance floor.
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