about
Martina Cancio
Martina Cancio, Brazilian from the state of Bahia, professional dancer, choreographer, dance instructor and photo model based in Dubai. An artist at heart, lover of cultural diversity, music, and body movements has been dancing since 2001.
Her background in Brazil includes studying at the Dance University “UFBa”, at the “Academia Baiana de dança de salão” (ABDS), belly dance regular classes with Fernanda Guerreiro, Marcia Mignac, ana maya and many other dance workshops.
She started her career performing belly dance weekly at the Shopping Lapa for the Exoteric Center Cleria Peixoto in her home town of Salvador and straight after she performed regularly at the Arabic restaurant “Império de Nefis” in the state of Sergipe, Brazil. At the same time, Martina was teaching belly dance in a gym and running a Social Project as a volunteer giving belly dance classes for elder women at “Centro Social Urbano de Pernambués”. performing for “João de Barro” dance company and as a member of the dance company from “Academia Baiana de dança de salão” (ABDS) she has performed belly dance and ballroom dance for many events around her city.
brazil
She started her international dance career in Europe in 2005 at a Maroccan House called “Palácio de Almanzor” in Fatima, Portugal, where she performed belly dance shows daily until 2006.
In 2007 the Syndicate of Artists and Technicians of Entertainment Shows of the state of Bahia (SATED/Ba) granted Martina an artist/ dancer license (DRT 002303) and she started performing as a professional belly dancer in the Middle East.
The invitation to work as a regular belly dancer in the Middle East came from Omar Naboulsi and Toros Siranossian, the two biggest agents of high-end entertainment for Arabic restaurants in the Middle East. There, she has worked in Bahrain, Lebanon, Syria, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates, Oman, Iraq, Qatar and Kuwait and has since performed also in India, Pakistan, the Maldives, Portugal, Spain, the United Kingdom and italy.
dancing around the world
Since 2010 Martina has been working as a freelancer with other local artists and through her own entertainment company, offering a wide range of entertainment to events all over the Middle East and beyond. In 2011 she organized her first big workshop, bringing from Egypt Soraya Zaied, belly dancer and master teacher, for the first time to Dubai.
As a curious and dedicated professional that loves to learn, Martina has experienced many kinds of dances such as ballroom dance, samba, zouk, salsa, ballet, modern dance, flamenco, afro dance, tribal fusion belly dance and pole dance where she had the opportunity to be one of the teachers at Milan Pole Dance Studio Dubai base in 2015 and 2016.
She also had the privilege to learn from the greatest masters of Oriental Dance in Egypt such as Mahmoud Reda, Raqia Hassan, Dina Talal, Randa Kamel, Tito Seif, Gamal Seif, Mohamed Shahim and many others.
dance masters
Dance classroom is her passion and in addition to performing, Martina has also been teaching dance since 2004. She has shared her technique with students from all over the world in private classes, group classes and workshops in dance festivals.
classes & Workshops
While Martina’s most requested shows are belly dance and samba (Brazilian dance), she frequently choreographs custom artistic shows for themed parties, cruises and corporate events performing as a solo dancer or in group performances and also creating her own costumes.
costumes/desing by martina
her dedication and talent brought her opportunities to participate in a shooting for the Pakistani director Khalid Hassan Khan in the movie “Hotal”, video-clip shooting for Sarkodie, Ghanian rapper, in the song “Illuminati”, also video-clip for Federico Scavo, Italian DJ, in the song “One night in Dubai” and many other events with celebrities such as Pelé, Novak Djokovic, Andy Murray, Sonu Sood, Saad El Soghayar, Hanine Al Alam & Ali Al Sayed.
"Hotal" pakistani movie
celebrities
video clips
Martina’s dance core philosophy was a key to keep up mental and physical health even during her two pregnancies in 2017 & 2019. She believes every woman deserves to enjoy pregnancy and maternity. Dancing was the way she found to keep up.
dance & pregnancy
“Let your body translate the music, dance.”
Martina Cancio
body poet since 2001