Martine Lamy, NBS Professional Ballet Program Teacher, AI09 Host

Martine Lamy is a former NBS student, Principal Dancer with The National Ballet of Canada, an NBS Teacher Training Program graduate and now teaches in the Professional Ballet Program at NBS. Martine is one of the AI09 hosts and is partnered with Ecole de Danse de l’Opéra national de Paris.

Two weeks ago, Martine stepped in to assist the visiting students and staff from Cuba who expressed some concern about the weather they were to encounter in Toronto in November (coming from a tropical climate, none of the Cubans' wardrobes contain clothes required for a Canadian fall/winter). Martine quickly drew up a list of names, with the necessary sizes of coats and boots and sent out an email to all staff at NBS asking them to take on one individual to provide all items necessary for a typical wintry day. Martine was surprised by the response to her email, "It was fantastic, just fantastic – I had over fifty replies. Within 24 hours everyone was equipped with boots, gloves, hats, scarves and sweaters!"

Originally from Quebec, Martine essentially stopped speaking French when she arrived at NBS at ten years of age. When asked about her hosting duties for the French visitors, Martine says laughing, “I only hope my French is good enough – now I have to think before I speak in French!”

But what she’s looking forward to most of all is the week itself, "all the different people – with different styles and methods of teaching... Seeing their approaches to training and performance, and being able to watch other teachers teaching..."