Who We Are
The José Greco Foundation staff is comprised of people dedicated to Spanish dance and to the Foundation's mission, with significant experience in dance, arts management and the non-profit sector, and with backgrounds in business administration.
CARMELA GRECO - President
Carmela Greco, the daughter of legendary José Greco, began dancing at an early age in Madrid, Spain. After dancing as prima ballerina in the company of Luisillo for three years, Ms. Greco founded her own company and toured throughout Europe, the Middle East and Africa. Ms. Greco has since performed in such prestigious venues as the Jackie Gleason Theater in Miami, Jacob's Pillow, and Lincoln Center, and for the King of Spain, Juan Carlos I, and the Duke of Edinburgh. In 1988, she joined her father's company and made her debut at the Joyce Theatre in New York City to rave reviews. She is considered a world-renowned choreographer and performer.
Ms. Greco became President of the José Greco Foundation in 2004. She strongly believes in the mission of the Foundation and for the last three years has dedicated herself to biannual tours throughout the US of performances and workshops ranging from one month to several months. Additionally, in 2005 Ms. Greco formed her own company, Compañía Carmela Greco, that will tour performing and giving lecture / demonstrations and workshops.
M.-ANA BÖRGER-GRECO, Ph.D. - Executive Director
Dr. Börger-Greco is the widow of the late José Greco and has been for many years his chief proponent. She has a long association with Spain, its arts and literature, beginning in her childhood and enduring through her life. Dr. Börger-Greco holds a Masters of Arts from the University of Wisconsin in Spanish Languages and Literatures and a PhD in Medieval Literature from the University of Pennsylvania. She currently is a professor of Foreign Languages at Millersville University.
Dr. Börger-Greco's extensive academic career spans teaching courses on the Spanish language, the German language, the Spanish theatre, Spanish literature, translation methods and Spanish regional dances. She has been a Visiting Professor at the University of the Bosphorus in Istanbul, Turkey and at the Universidad Camilo José Cela in Padrón, Spain. Dr. Börger-Greco's career includes participation on over 37 committees at three universities, numerous keynote addresses and chairmanship of seminars and workshops, and publication of three articles and seven reviews. She is a member of the Society of Dance History Scholars and continues with her late husband's efforts to disseminate Spanish dance in the US through the José Greco Foundation.
NICOLE TOTAH - Managing Director
Ms. Totah is a real estate developer who builds, develops and/or holds commercial, retail, mixed-use and residential properties in the Greater Washington DC area. She holds a BS in Finance from The Wharton School and a BA in English Literature from The University of Pennsylvania's College of Arts and Sciences. Ms. Totah became Managing Director of the Foundation in 2004.
In 2000, Ms. Totah traveled to Spain as a Fulbright scholar to look at real estate from an international perspective. Once in Spain, Ms. Totah fell in love with the music of flamenco and has not looked backwards since. She started studying flamenco in 2002 with veteran dancer Ana Martinez in Arlington, Virginia, and has since studied with Anna Menendez and Carmela Greco. Since 2004, she has been studying with Ulrika Frank in Washington DC and she now forms a part of Mirada Flamenca. Ms. Totah believes that the Foundation's initiatives will go a long way toward bringing the vivid beauty and arousing sentiments of Spanish dance directly from Spain to the U.S.
NORA LOPEZ NOGUERA - Director of Public Relations/Event Coordinator
Nora López Noguera graduated from Oklahoma State University with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Communications and Public Relations, and holds a B.A. in Photography and Drawing from The Corcoran School of Art, Washington, D.C.
At an early age she studied flamenco in Nicaragua, her native country. After beginning her career in communications and public relations in Washington, she resumed her flamenco training, studying all its “palos” (forms). Every year she travels to Spain to perfect her dancing.
With more than 30 years of experience in public relations in the Washington area and as CEO of Alma del Arte, she presents flamenco shows in the capital of the US and in Latin America, inviting top performers from Spain, as well as from several American cities.
Nora recently organized a flamenco workshop in the best-known dance studio in Managua.
MARÍA RONCAL - Program Director
María Roncal has had years of professional experience working for corporations and non-profit organizations holding various roles in different operations such as administering web technologies, managing multi-million dollar budgets and contracts, political action committee system specialist, and coordinating congressional briefings for hundreds of association members.
As a flamenco dancer, Ms. Roncal trained intensively at the Fundación de Cristina Heeren and Academia de Baile de Manolo Marín in Sevilla, Spain where she lived for almost two years in 2002 and 2003 learning from flamenco masters such as Milagros Menjíbar, Manolo Soler, Rafael Campallo, Carmen Ledesma, Asunción Pérez, Adela Campallo, Pilar Ortega and Manuel Betanzos. She has performed at Café Sol, Café Cantante in Sevilla , Spain and in theatres, tablaos, and events all over the Washington DC area. She teaches flamenco dance at DC Dance Collective in Washington DC and Center for Ballet Arts in Fairfax , VA. She is a member of Mirada Flamenca, a flamenco dance group founded by Ulrika Frank, and continues her training as a dancer with flamenco artists such as Marija Temo, Javier Lozano, Antonio Vargas, and Carmela Greco.
GRISELLA M. MARTINEZ - Counsel
Grisella M. Martinez has worked in private practice for five years, concentrating in immigration law and appellate litigation before the Executive Office of Immigration Review and the U.S. Courts of Appeal. She received her J.D. with certification from The Comparative and International Law Institute at the Columbus School of Law, The Catholic University of America and is currently pursuing an LL.M. in Administrative Law and Regulatory Policy at the Washington College of Law, American University in Washington, D.C. She has also studied international business and trade law at the Jagiellonian University, in Krakow, Poland.
In addition, to her work in the legal field, Ms. Martinez has an extensive background in creative and performing arts. She is a past recipient of a Young Emerging Artist grant in poetry from the D.C. Commission on the Arts and Humanities (DCCAH) and has curated several poetry readings including Raices: A Celebration of Latin American Poets at The Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden and Dreams for America: An Evening of Latino Poets for DCCAH. She also performed as part of the Urban Women Poets project for the Smithsonian's Art Night on the Mall. Ms. Martinez began her studies in flamenco as part of a children's dance company in Juarez, Mexico in the early 1980's. She returned to study and perform flamenco with the Ana Martinez Flamenco Dance Company in Arlington, VA from 1999 to 2005. Since 2006, she has studied with Ulrika Frank in Washington, D.C.