How Melly Mel uses movement to return to herself

Published September 2025

In this episode of In the Making, we meet Melly Mel, a dancer whose practice moves through identity, grief, joy, and healing.

From a young girl spinning across the floor to a performer navigating complex personal transitions, Mel shares how movement became a language for experiences that words often struggle to hold.

We talk about what it means to keep making serious work while life is changing around you. How the body remembers what the mind tries to organize. And how returning to movement can become a form of self-reclamation.

This conversation explores the quiet mechanics of creative practice: discipline, emotional resilience, and the ongoing process of learning how to return to yourself.

Themes in this episode

• Movement as emotional language

• Returning to the body through grief

• Identity and evolving creative practice

• Sustainability in dance

“Sometimes the work is learning how to return to yourself.”

About Melly Mel

Mélissa “Melly Mel” Flérangile is a dancer whose work moves across contemporary and street dance traditions, blending technical precision with deeply personal expression.

Over the course of her career she has performed internationally in film, stage productions, and touring dance works. Her screen appearances include roles in films such as Chicago, Honey, and Sex and the City 2. On stage, she was part of the original creation of The Beatles LOVE by Cirque du Soleil, performing in the celebrated production from 2005 to 2008 and appearing at major events including the 50th Annual Grammy Awards and The Jay Leno Show.

Melly later toured globally with Cirque Éloize’s production iD, performing in theatres across North America, Europe, and Asia, including the Wang Theatre in Boston, Marina Bay Sands in Singapore, and Théâtre National de Chaillot in Paris. She is also a longtime member of the Canadian dance company Bboyizm, performing nationally and internationally.

From the Archive

This conversation was originally recorded during the early phase of the podcast when it was known as RATT – Rebel Artists Through Time. It remains part of the Piperlime Studio archive and is now presented within the In the Making series.