Kerensa DeMars is an internationally acclaimed choreographer, performer, and educator with a deep commitment to preserving the cultural integrity of Flamenco. Of Romani heritage, DeMars lived and worked in Spain for over a decade, training intensively with the country's foremost Flamenco artists before returning to the US to found the San Francisco Flamenco Dance Company. Her work explores the evolution of the "Flamenca" archetype, the diverse roots of Flamenco, and the poetry at the heart of the form, weaving traditional technique with digital collage, poetry, and cross-disciplinary musical collaboration.
Her artistry has taken her to some of the world's most prestigious stages, including London's Royal Festival Hall, Madrid's Teatro Calderón, Barcelona's Tivoli Theater, and San Francisco's Yerba Buena Center and Fort Mason Center for the Arts. Over the course of her career, she has directed seventeen full-length Flamenco productions — including three works for youth — and has presented her work in Madrid, Barcelona, Paris, Milwaukee, Chicago, Los Angeles, and San Francisco. Her acclaimed 2019 production Volver paired traditional Flamenco with interpretations by Palestinian musicians and the poetry of Federico García Lorca, Leonard Cohen, and Cecilia Woloch, reflecting her ongoing collaborations with musicians from diverse backgrounds. DeMars is the recipient of major choreography commissions from the San Francisco Arts Commission, Theatre Bay Area/Dancer's Group, the Azahar Dance Foundation, and Madrid's Teatro Pradillo. In 2024 she was awarded a Wisconsin Special Projects Grant to create (W)here in the World - a festival that uplifts the work of Wisconsin’s traditional dance artists.
"Kerensa DeMars' command of the stage was instant and complete," wrote critic Jeanne Powell, describing a performer whose "discipline and excitement" matched her stature as choreographer and artistic director of the San Francisco Flamenco Dance Company.
For DeMars, artistic excellence has always gone hand in hand with cultivating community. For fifteen years she served as Artistic Director of San Francisco's Flamenco Room, the city's longest-running weekly Flamenco series, building a stage where artists from both Spain and the US could share their craft. Since relocating to Milwaukee in 2019, she has channeled that same spirit into Studio K Flamenco, a nonprofit organization she leads as Artistic and Executive Director and has grown into Milwaukee's home for the Flamenco arts.
Under her direction, Studio K has developed a robust slate of programs: the annual Flamenco Nutcracker, a beloved Milwaukee holiday tradition; the Compás Youth Project, training the next generation of dancers; the FlamencoMKE performance series, showcasing local and touring artists; and the annual (W)here in the World festival.
An enthusiastic and dedicated educator, DeMars brings more than twenty years of teaching experience to students of all ages. Her bilingual teaching methods introduce students to the cultural, historical, and technical dimensions of Flamenco in a spirit of authenticity and joy. DeMars is deeply invested in mentoring dancers at all stages of their Flamenco journey. She holds a regular schedule with the Milwaukee Ballet School and has served as a guest instructor at Lawrence University, the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee, and as guest choreographer for the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music's production of Carmen. She teaches bilingual classes for youth in Milwaukee Public Schools and is a past Board Member of the Wisconsin Dance Council.
Through Studio K Flamenco, DeMars continues to build bridges — between generations of artists, between Milwaukee and the global Flamenco community, and between tradition and innovation — ensuring that the art form she has devoted her life to will flourish for decades to come.
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