Nancy “Nonci” Flores

The Artist

Nancy Flores is a multi-faceted artist who creates performing art from a state of power and magic. She is a Baltimore native of Puerto Rican heritage. Influenced by her musical family, she learned to dance salsa and merengue at the age of 7. The passion to dance was instilled at a young age as she remembers watching ballet on Maryland Public Television and dancing in front of the TV with the performers. Nancy graduated with a BA in Psychology from Loyola University. She is inspired by her love of psychology, literature, nature and an endless fascination of the human quest for life, love, and hope.

Nancy (ballroom dance alias Nonci Tirado) is an esteemed Professional Champion Latin dancer with numerous US titles, including US Latin National Finalist, North American Champion, Eastern US Champion and US Rising Star Champion.  She was also the Undefeated Fred Astaire National Latin Champion. She performed abroad with former US Champion Rick Valenzuela (Japan), former US Latin finalist Marco Mechelke (Costa Rica, Germany) and former Dutch Grand Prix finalist Ariel Rad (France).  She has trained with Latin-ballroom giants Espen Salberg, Ron Montez, Ruud Vermeij, Julie Laird and numerous others.  She is currently a faculty member at Washington School of Ballet.

The Artistry

As a classically trained dancer, Nancy Flroes has shared the stage with such world-renowned artists as Placido Domingo, Renee Fleming, and Deborah Voigt to name a few. Nonci also appeared as a featured dancer in Dance With Me starring Vanessa Williams and Cheyenne. She also appeared in Barry Levinson’s Avalon and as a featured dancer in The Shakespeare Theatre’s production of Twelfth Night at the Sydney Harmon Hall in Washington DC. She recently danced with the stars of “So You Think You Can Dance” – Benji Schwimmer, Sabra Johnson, and Jamal – on the Daughters of the American Revolution stage. She was cast in numerous productions as a principal dancer in Baltimore and at the Kennedy Center Opera House stage with the Washington Opera in such productions as La Traviata, Lucrezia Borgia, Samson et Delilah, Lakme, The Bartered Bride, The Flying Dutchman, Die Fledermaus, Aida, Hamlet, Macbeth, Andrea Chenier, Show Boat, Cenerentola, Carmen, and most recently Madama Butterfly.

As a choreographer, Nancy recently graduated from the Dance Icons Choreographic Institute in Washington DC where she premiered a featured work APOTHEOTIK. Upon graduating from CIDL, she became the recipient of the Mark Ryder Original Choreography Award/Grant for 2018.  She has been invited to participate in the Dance Metro DC benefit concert at Dance Place where she will premiere XENOMORPHIA, and her work APOTHEOTIK has been invited to participate in the Atlas INTERSECTIONS Festival in February 2018.

Nancy has been choreographing for competitive ballroom dancers for the past 15 years. She assisted choreographer Vladimir Angelov in numerous ballets for the Indianapolis Ballet, Richmond Ballet, Washington Ballet, Arizona Ballet, and Tokyo City Ballet. She has also choreographed for actors in Evita, Lysistrata, The Miser and An Ounce of Blues, and most recently The Hairy Ape.

Photo Credits: David Dowling Photography, Jeff Malet Photography, Stephen Clapp

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Sunday, February 25, 2018 – 5 pm – Atlas INTERSECTIONS Festival – APOTHEOTIK

About APOTHEOTIK: A neo-gothic ballet drama inspired by the nature of dreams, film, and literature. This dark, gothic romance that addresses the age-old struggles of love, war, and death in a dream-like world. This contemporary dance piece features gymnastic dancing, pointe work, drags, lifts, and spins. APOTHEOTIK takes the audience on an adventure through the wild imaginations of the subconscious mind.

What Others Say

“The last work of the evening was a dance drama inspired by the uncontrollable nature of one’s dreams, entitled Apotheotik by Nancy Flores-Tirado. The piece began with an empty bed frame with bare tree branches sprouting from the posts and the sounds of a large creaky door slowly opening. Our main character, Arman Bayev, comes running in and leaps over the bed into a dramatic pose and is soon stalked by a pack of female tree-creatures…. This dream-within-a-dream reveal leaves me with the same feeling I have after watching a psychological thriller, wanting to watch it again and again for the chance to spot new nuances.”

-DanceMetro DC on APOTHEOTIK


“The final work, by Nancy Flores-Tirado, was titled Apotheotik. It was described as a neogothic ballet drama. Think Guillermo del Toro’s film Pan’s Labyrinth. Fantasy mixed with darkness. Or just think Shakespeare.. It’s unclear what’s dream or nightmare and what’s not, and I’m guessing that’s by design…, the dancing gymnastic and even steamy at times. There is pointe work. Women are dragged and seduced, but they also act as harpies, torturing the central male character.”

-Critical Dance Review on APOTHEOTIK