Kerensa DeMars is a choreographer, performer and educator working in Flamenco dance. Her work explores the evolution of the ‘Flamenca’ archetype, the diverse roots of Flamenco and the poetry at the heart of the form. Elements of digital collage, poetry and cross disciplinary musical collaborations feature prominently in her productions. Kerensa has performed internationally at venues like the Royal Festival Hall in London, the Tivoli in Barcelona, Madrid's Teatro Calderón and the Fort Mason Center for the Arts in San Francisco.
The founding director of the San Francisco Flamenco Dance Company, Kerensa lived in Spain from 1997-2004 where she trained intensively in Flamenco dance with Spain’s foremost artists. Kerensa is the recipient of major choreography commissions from the San Francisco Arts Commission, Theatre Bay Area/Dancer's Group, the Azahar Dance Foundation and the Teatro Pradillo of Madrid. Her 2019 work Volver paired the poetry of Cecilia Woloch, Federico Garcia Lorca and Leonard Cohen with traditional Flamenco and interpretations by Palestinian musicians.
Kerensa is currently the artistic director of Studio K Flamenco, Milwaukee’s home for the Flamenco arts. In her role with Studio K she created the Flamenco Nutcracker (now in its seventh year), the Compás Youth Project and the MKEFlamenco performance series. She regularly hosts world renowned Flamenco artists in Milwaukee and strives to preserve and promote the art of Flamenco in Milwaukee and beyond. In 2024 she received a WI Special Projects grant to create (W)here in the World, an annual festival of traditional dance that uplifts the work of Wisconsin’s traditional dance artists.
As an educator, Kerensa holds a regular schedule of classes in Milwaukee and is a guest instructor with the Milwaukee Ballet School. She has recently been a guest instructor at Lawrence University, the University of WI-Milwaukee and as guest choreographer with the IU Jacob’s School of Music production of Carmen. She teaches bilingual classes for youth in Milwaukee Public Schools and imparts regular workshops for all levels through Studio K Flamenco. Kerensa has served on the Board of the Wisconsin Dance Council and the Isadora Duncan Dance Awards Committee.
New and notable projects include curating and producing the second annual (W)here in the World Dance Festival in spring 2026 and pre-production on ‘Mujer. Vida. Libertad.’
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