ARTISTS
Emily Cheung
Choreography/Lighting/Costume
Emily Cheung is an educator, performer, and choreographer who holds degrees in B.F.A., B. Ed., and M.A. from York University, with a specialization in Dance. Her extensive training took place across China, Hong Kong, the United States, and Canada. Renowned for her pivotal role in fostering cross-cultural connections and facilitating collaborations with international artists dedicated to traditional and modern Chinese dance in Toronto, Ms. Cheung received recognition as one of the prominent figures during the 150th Anniversary celebration of Canada, being honored as one of the ten “Voices of Chinese Canadian Women” in Ontario. She was also a finalist for the Muriel Sherrin Award.
Currently serving as the Artistic Director of Little Pear Garden Dance Company in Toronto, Ms. Cheung is an active member of the board of directors for Dance Ontario. Her expertise encompasses both Chinese Classical dance and Chinese Contemporary dance. Emily Cheung is deeply committed to preserving the essence of traditional Chinese dance, crafting contemporary expressions that pay homage to Chinese heritage, and engaging in collaborative ventures with artists from diverse backgrounds and disciplines to create works imbued with distinctive aesthetic values.
News article on Ms. Cheung celebrating her 10th anniversary with the company.
Tony K.T. Leung
Music
Tony K.T. Leung is a Canadian composer/cellist, whose music has been performed internationally by leading contemporary music ensembles. Born in Hong Kong, Tony discovered music through his first instrument, the erhu, and later the cello. As a youth, he arranged music for a Chinese orchestra, which sparked an early interest in western music and composition. After decades of primarily acoustic works, he currently explores technology-based musical expression.
Tony K.T. Leung’s creation of the music for “Spectrum of Connection” is funded by a grant from the Ontario Arts Council and the Government of Ontario.
Victor Tan
Projection Art
Victor Tan studied violin, piano, and painting since young. After immigrating to Canada from Taiwan, he continued his musical involvement as a choir conductor and a pop-song composer. Victor’s degree in computer science and his pursuit in photography inspired him to develop skills in image/video post-processing and graphic design. He is currently responsible for the Little Pear Garden’s branding design as the company’s executive director.
DANCERS
Zachary Cardwell
Company Dancer/BISBIC instructor
Zachary Cardwell is a passionate dance teacher, choreographer, and dancer interested in cultivating connections within ourselves and between one other.
A graduate of the Arts Umbrella Post-Secondary Dance Program, under the direction of Artemis Gordon, Zachary has had the pleasure of performing works by choreographers such as Crystal Pite, Marie Chouinard, Jiri Kylian, Mats Ek, Sharon Eyal, James Kudelka, and Aszure Barton, among others. During his tenure with the Arts Umbrella Dance Company, Zachary toured Holland performing in the ITS Dance Festival and Netherlands Dans Theatre’s Shortcuts XL.
In Toronto, Zachary has had the privilege to dance with Toronto Dance Theatre, Zata Omm Dance Projects, Dusk Dances, Little Pear Garden Dance Company, hART dance, Jane Alison McKinney, ACE dance theatre, and Cadence Ballet.
Zachary curated and presented ‘In Response: An Evening of Music and Dance I and II’ in 2019 and 2020. In Response is an evening for artist and audience to practice collective listening and openness. In 2017, Zachary developed Bodies in Space, Bodies in Contact (BISBIC). Focusing on refining sensitivity in three facets– within a dancers’ own body, between bodies in contact, and bodies in space– in order to explore new coordinations. BISBIC continues to be a source of artistic inspiration and is taught to professional dancers to develop partnering skills.
Zachary Cardwell is a Progressing Ballet Technique (PBT) certified teacher versed in ballet, modern, contemporary, partnering, and improvisation and has taught at Canada’s National Ballet School, Etobicoke School of the Arts and lead repertoire for the Arts Umbrella International Audition Tour.
Sarah Di Iorio
Company Dancer
Sarah Di Iorio received her Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree in 2018 from Toronto Metropolitan University. During her final year, she was selected to create two full length works that premiered in the University’s inaugural Springworks show. She was also the recipient of the Nadia Potts Scholarship Award. In the last few years since graduating, Sarah has performed with Red Sky Performance at the Jacobs Pillow Dance Festival, Festival Des Arts De Saint-Sauver, and toured with the company for six months throughout North America (2021/22). Other recent performances of hers include; a duet by Angela Blumberg for Din of Shadows (2022), performing as a soloist in Canadian Stage’s “Dance in High Park Series” (2020), and duetting in Little Pear Garden’s latest dance film “The 5 Elements” (2022). Sarah’s choreography has been seen professionally in the Fall for Dance North Festival (2018), ABD’s DaCo Residency (2022), Cawthra Parks Springfest Show (2019-2023), and Theatre Oculus’ Fringe Festival film “Venus and Adonis” (2021). She is incredibly excited to continue her journey with Little Pear Garden as they premiere and tour their newest full-length work, “Spectrum of Connection”!
Sebastian Hirtenstein
Company Dancer
Sebastian “Bash” Hirtenstein’s undeniable versatility, unshakeable fearlessness and captivating qualities in performance have allowed him to work with a wide spectrum of choreographers & companies such as BoucharDanse, Addy Chan, Michael Caldwell, Canadian Opera Company, Emilio Collalilo, Lenny de la Pena, Barbara Kaneratonni Diabo, Rodney Diverlus, The Dietrich Group, Scott Fordham, Gadfly, Kaha:wi Dance Theatre, Little Pear Garden Dance Company, Jennifer Nichols, Kevin Ormsby, Red Sky Performance, Jennifer Thiessen, Kylie Thompson and Lydia Zimmer. He has performed throughout Canada, the Middle East, and Asia with Creativiva’s Aladdin and Pinocchio (for which he was dance captain) and has shared stages with stars such as Ariana Grande, Jason Derulo, Kiesza, Bebe Rexha, Shaun Frank, Delaney Jane, Allan Rayman and Polina Grace. He has also starred in multiple TV series including American Gods, Shadowhunters, The Umbrella Academy, Killjoys, Eva Longoria’s Glamorous, and has worked with major brands such as Jack Daniel’s, Microsoft, Duracell, Priceline, Captain Morgan’s, TD Bank, Nordstrom, IÖGO, and the Toronto Argonauts. He has also created choreography for the Hamilton Conservatory of the Arts, Fashion Shoot Extravaganza, and artists such as Marie-Clo, HERDD, Husslah and Harriet Chung.
Lu Li
Company Dancer
A graduate from the Shandong University of Arts in China, Lu majored in Dance Choreography and specialized in Chinese Classical Dance, Chinese Folk Dance, and Contemporary Dance.
During her time at the Shandong University of Arts, Lu was a performer at the opening and closing ceremonies of the 2012 The 3rd Asian Beach Games in Haiyang, China. Her passion for dance and choreography has earned her numerous accolades and awards both the provincial and national level in China. Aside from performing herself, Lu always enjoys teaching the fine art she loves to others and has been involved in dance instruction in one form or another for the past 8 years.
Aryana Malekzadeh
Company Dancer
Aryana Malekzadeh is an Iranian Canadian independent dance artist and arts educator based in Toronto. She is a proud graduate of Dance Arts Institute (formerly The School of Toronto Dance Theatre) and holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts with Honours from York University where she was awarded merit scholarships. Throughout her professional career she has worked for renowned choreographers such as Emily Cheung, Syreeta Hector, Shannon Litzenberger, Newton Moraes, and The Wind in the Leaves Collective amongst others, and is a performing company member with Little Pear Garden Dance Company. In addition, she has also performed in various festivals such as Fall for Dance North, Dance Ontario DanceWeekend, The Carnival of the Arts and Nuit Blanche. Alongside performing, she is a faculty member at York University, where she pursues her passion of teaching and shares her learnings with her students.
Caitlin Meyer
Company Dancer
Caitlin Meyer is a multidisciplinary dancer, teacher, and choreographer in the Tri-City area and GTA. Caitlin holds a BA in Honours Psychology and a Minor in Marketing from University of Guelph. While attending University of Guelph, Caitlin was a company member of Gryphon’s Dance Pack, University of Guelph’s varsity competitive dance team. Caitlin also has a Choreography Certificate from Broadway Dance Centre. She was a YoungCreators Choreography Finalist in 2018 with her piece “That Day”, and has only become more sought after as a creative and educator since. She was an ensemble dancer in Tyler Hutching’s full length show “whole new world” (2023).
Cailin Teranishi
Dancer
Cailin Teranishi (She/Her) is a dancer and performer based in Toronto, Ontario. She is a graduate of The Creative School’s Performance Dance program at Toronto Metropolitan University. Cailin has had the privilege to choreograph works for both Encoreo and the Choreographic Film Festival and has had the opportunity to present work at ‘Screen:Moves’ in collaboration with Toronto Dance Theatre. She has performed in works created by Andrea Nann, Alysa Pires, Robert Glumbek, Apolonia Valasquez, Rock Bottom Movement, Natasha Powell, and Angela Blumberg as well as learned repertoire from ProArte Danza’s Roberto Campanella. Most recently, Cailin took part in Frog in Hand’s summer company and performed in the original work “War of the Worlds Reimagined” choreographed by Colleen Snell. Cailin is part of Toronto Metropolitan University’s 2022 graduating class with a BFA in Performance Dance and a minor in English.
Maclean Frey
Dancer
Born in Ottawa, Ontario, Maclean Frey discovered his love for dance at the age of 3 in Kitchener, Ontario, Canada. He furthered his studies at Miami City Ballet under the direction of Lourdes Lopez, where he received a classical ballet education. In 2014, he joined WESTSIDE Dance Project under the direction of Jessie Riley. During his time there, Maclean had the opportunity to perform works by Bryan Arias, Jermaine Spivey, Spenser Theberge, Barak Marshall, and Norbert De La Cruz III. In 2016, Maclean moved to New York City to pursue a BFA in dance, and he graduated with A Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree from NYU. While in New York City Maclean danced the works of Wayne McGregor, Lar Lubovitch, Ori Flomin, and Sidra Bell. Since then, Maclean has been teaching and dancing all over the world in countries such as Germany, the Czech Republic and France. Maclean moved to Pisa, Italy, in 2019, where he danced with imPerfect Dancers Company under the direction of Walter Matteini and Ina Broekx until 2021. Finding his way back to Ontario after ten years, Maclean continued diving into his own choreographic and teaching endeavours, creating his own work while he received his Masters in Teaching at the University of Toronto in June 2023.
Benjamin W. Russell
Understudy
Benjamin is a dancer and instructor with an interest in languages and music. Ben is an avid YouTuber with diplomas in both Mechanical Engineering Technology – Design and Dance Performance which he studied at Centennial College. As a nextgeneration artist, he has performed with KasheDance, Wind In The Leaves Collective and Little Pear Garden. When not working with dance companies in the city, he teaches recreationally in the Greater Toronto Area (Angela’s School of Performing Arts). He has toured with KasheDance to Winnipeg and most recently finished a Creative Residency at the University of Wisconsin – Madison where he had the opportunity to work as an understudy in the further development of Kevin A. Ormsby’s Trilogy of BEing… solo project work under the artistic support of Professor Chris Walker (University of Wisconsin’s – Madison’s Director of the Division of the Arts). Mr. Russell has an astute interest in cultural ethnography with plans to further his curiosity in the future.
CREW
Lina Zhao
Arts Manager
Lina Zhao holds an Honours Bachelor of Arts degree from Wilfrid Laurier University and a Public Relations Corporate Communication graduate certificate from Seneca College. From working with the public for over four years, Lina has been able to gain many hands-on experiences working with a breadth of people, developing interpersonal communication skills and problem-solving. With the love of arts at a young age, she brings her lifelong passion for the arts to the company.
Janice Li
Project Coordinator
Janice Li holds an Honours Bachelor of Visual Studies degree from Lingnan University in Hong Kong and an M.A. in Research in Film and Creative Writing from the University of Birmingham. From working in education, art, and culture for three years in Hong Kong, the Dominican Republic, and Canada, Janice has gained experience working with a breadth of people, developing interpersonal skills, organization skills, and problem-solving skills. She also gained the Certified Associate in Project Management (CAPM) which is an asset for project coordination.
Nicole Decsey
Rehearsal Director
Nicole Decsey is a performer, choreographer, artistic director, arts critic, and dance instructor based in Mississauga and Toronto with a BFA in performance dance from Toronto Metropolitan University. After receiving her BFA and participating in many dance intensives across the country Nicole developed her own grassroots dance company: Nicole Decsey Dance Projects (NDDP), through which her latest work We Lost You A Long Time Ago premiered on February 25th 2023. Nicole has performed in multiple events and venues including corporate events, the Toronto Fringe Festival, Nuit Blanche Festival, and the iconic Dancemakers space in the Distillery District. Aside from her work as a performer and artistic director Nicole has worked as a crew member in lighting, costuming, and administrative positions. She is also a rehearsal director for Human Body Expression and a contributor to The Dance Current Magazine. Nicole is thrilled to be the rehearsal director for Little Pear Garden Productions newest full length work Spectrum.
Hailee Nora
Production Manager
Born in Orillia Ontario she loved performing from a young age. She was a dancer at Taps Performing Arts. Then she did community theatre performing at The Orillia Opera House. She moved to Toronto completed one year at Toronto Metropolitan University in Theatre Production. At University she gained backstage knowledge and collaborated on many creative team projects. She then went on to graduate from Humber College. At Humber she studied Film, TV, and Theatre. She collaborated on many student films. Post college She acted and directed on various films. One of the films “The Pawn” has been selected for the International Film Festival. Currently she is working as an Events Supervisor and Stage manager at Union Station. There she works with Performers from the Remix Project. In her role at Union she is collaborating with many artists and members of the public. This position has helped her become a stronger communicator, and given her more leadership experience. She is also working for The Casting Solutions. Recently she landed a modeling job with the client Hut8 Minning Corp. Previously she stage managed many children’s theater shows. Such as Charlie Brown and other original productions.
Meghan McMartin
Stage Manager
Meghan McMartin is a dancer, performer and educator from Ottawa, Ontario. Now based in Toronto, she has received her BFA from Toronto Metropolitan University in Performance Dance with distinction in l 2022. Through this program Meghan had the opportunity to explore, train, collaborate, and perform in works by Robert Glumbeck, Andrea Nann, Rock Bottom Movement, and Angela Blumberg. Meghan has attended Kenny Pearl’s Emerging Artist Intensive in 2019 and the Rubberband Winter Intensive in 2021. Since graduating, Meghan has performed in “Strange Flesh” by Angela Blumberg for Din of Shadows Company (2022), “JUXTAPOSE” by Christina Digiuseppe for the Toronto Fringe Festival (2023), “Colony Collapse” by Marisa Ricci (2022) and “a subject” by Alli Carry (2023) both for ABD’s DaCo residency. Meghan is currently teaching contemporary classes alongside Angela Blumberg at the National Ballet of Canada as she continues her journey of growth and discovery as an emerging artist and educator. She is honored to be working with Little Pear Garden Company as an apprentice and stage manager!
