Born in Turin, Martina began dancing at the age of six at the Dance Steps School in Trofarello, under the direction of Cristina Trinchero. In 2000, she was awarded a scholarship to join the prestigious English National Ballet School in London, then directed by Kathryne Wade. There, she completed a two-year professional training program under the guidance of Francine Richard, Antony Dowson, and Jean Pascal Cabardos, earning both her dance diploma and a certification in “Benesh Movement Notation”.
Her professional debut came with the European Ballet of London, directed by Stanislav Tchassov, in the company’s production of “Cinderella”.
In February 2003, at just 18 years old, Martina joined the Scottish Ballet, under the artistic direction of Ashley Page. From her very first seasons, she performed leading roles in several of the director’s contemporary works, including “Cheating, Lying, Stealing”, “Soft Underbelly”, and “Fearful Symmetries”, as well as in major classical ballets such as “Cinderella”, “The Sleeping Beauty”, “The Nutcracker”, and “Alice”.
Promoted to Coryphee in 2006, she continued to expand her repertoire, performing soloist roles in works by George Balanchine, William Forsythe, Krzysztof Pastor, and Kenneth MacMillan. During her nearly decade-long career with the Scottish Ballet, many roles were also created for her.
In 2009, British choreographer Richard Alston created “Carmen” for the company and entrusted her with the title role. That same year, for her interpretation, she was nominated for the National Dance Awards (Critics’ Circle) in London in the category Best Classical Performance in the UK, and was then promoted to Soloist.
In 2011, the year she was nominated to the coveted rank of Principal Dancer, she left the Scottish Ballet to join Aterballetto, under the direction of Cristina Bozzolini and resident choreographer Mauro Bigonzetti.
Her contemporary repertoire has since expanded to include works by Bigonzetti, of course, but also Jiří Kylián, Hofesh Shechter, Ohad Naharin, Johan Inger, Andonis Foniadakis, Jiří Pokorný, Giuseppe Spota, Diego Tortelli, Michele Di Stefano,… among others.
In 2019, she was awarded the National Sfera d’Oro per la Danza Prize as a leading Italian dancer.
