MARTINE
Martine Wérotte
Artistic Director, teacher and choreographer
Martine has been a dancer forever. At the age of 9, she joined International folklore classes and specialized later in Balkan folklore loving its rhythms and rich music. At a young age, she was already a member of several different troupes and had the opportunity to perform at prestigious sites such as «Man and his world». To complete her training, she chose to study classical and modern ballet with teachers from Le Groupe de la Nouvel’Aire, and with Martine Haug, whose talent and rigorous style she appreciated. Later, she pursued her ballet and jazz training for 6 years.
In 1980, at a time when Martine was still searching for the right music and movements, she discovered the highly acclaimed Egyptian singer Om Kalthom and it was love at first sight (or sound!). Embracing her love of bellydance, Martine focused her energy, and passion into this dance style by studying intensively with Yousry Sharif, Mahmoud Reda, Raqia Hassan, Beata and Horacio Cifuentes and Diana Tarkhan. Moreover, her style excelled from taking part in various workshops with Aida Noor, Faten Salama, and new dance stars such as Randa Kamel and Tito…to name a few. Due to her strong attachment to the Egyptian style, she has been traveling to Egypt on a regular basis to refine her dance style and to improve her knowledge of the Arabic language.
Martine is an experienced professional bellydancer, having performed in nightclubs with live bands and on stage in many theaters. She is regularly invited to share her expertise on radio or television shows (CBC Toronto, CJAD Montreal, Radio Centre-ville, CBC television, TVA, TQS, Canal Vie etc) or in various magazines, such as Coup de Pouce, Clin d’œil, Santé, etc.
Altogether, very artistic and disciplined, Martine is famous for her musicality, perfect technique, professionalism and elegance, and for creating original and unique choreographies! For many years she has been teaching her own students and many have now become professional dancers and several have been awarded gold, silver and bronze medals at dance competitions! She is also an international workshop instructor (North America and France) and participates in festivals and international conferences.
Martine is very involved in promoting and preserving the art of belly dance, having co-founded l’Association Québécoise de la Danse orientale (AQDO) in 2005 (President 2005-2008) she left the association in 2008 to pursue her own goals. She is a member of The International Dance Conference (CID/UNESCO). In 2013, she was elected Vice-President (2013) of La Société du Patrimoine d’Expression du Québec (SPEQ) Board of Directors. In 2014, she is elected on the SPEQ new Board of Directors, responsible for Les Week-ends du Monde and shows in the parks. In 2005 she founded La Troupe Sharkiss whose instant popularity has been increasing with each and every performance! In 2011, with more additional projects, the troupe in mutation will simply become «The Sharkiss»
Member of Conseil International de la danse – CID
Vice-president of the Board of director Société du Patrimoine d’Expression du Québec
Member SOCAN