Mario Flores was born and raised in Laredo, Texas where he began his dance training in Flamenco and Folklorico at the Vidal M. Treviño School of Communications and Fine Arts. He received a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in Dance from Texas State University and went on to pursue a career in dance in New York City. While in New York, Mario was an arts administrator at one of the top nonprofit dance organizations, Gibney, as the Deputy Director of HR. As a dancer, he performed with Calpulli Mexican Dance Company where he travelled internationally and performed in various venues including the historic Town Hall, the Apollo Theater, İş Sanat and as a guest artist for Grammy award winner, Lila Downs. Outside of Gibney and Calpulli, Mario helped in organizing for issue-based campaigns including helping to dismantle the school-to-prison pipeline with Organizing for Equity New York. While back in Laredo, he is excited to keep fighting to take back the narrative surrounding the border and show what it really means to be a fronterizo.