2026 Festival Artists
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2026 Festival Artists •
Prince Adrean & Company with Ko-Thi Dance Company
Prince Adrean is a Choreographer, performer and teacher, He is current graduate of Columbia College Chicago gaining his B.A in dance. During his time in undergrad Adrean has performed as a Company Artist with Muntu Dance Theater. His studies have taken him across the U.S., focusing on dance traditions from Guinea, Senegal, and Mali. Adrean’s choreography blends African Diasporic traditions with Western concert styles, rooted in spirituality, community, and identity. Prince Adrean will present work with his company for the second year at (W)here in the World. He is also bringing a work he set on Ko-Thi Dance Company.
About Ko-Thi: Founded in 1969, KTDC passionately preserves, teaches, documents, interprets, and performs dance and music rooted in the cultures of the African Diaspora and has continually diversified its programming to incorporate ongoing national, economic, and audience evolution without sacrificing the mission of inspiring our community to celebrate themselves and others through the present-day interpretation of ancient and contemporary African dance and music. https://www.ko-thi.org/
Kerensa DeMars & Evan Christian
Evan Christian is an internationally renowned multi genre musical artist. A gifted guitarist, singer, songwriter and music producer he has three commercial album releases to his name. He is a seven time Best of Milwaukee award winner and two time WAMI award winner. He is the proprietor of GibraltarMKE one of Milwaukee’s best live music venues that features a lively calendar of Flamenco, Jazz, Blues and Milwaukee’s best DJ’s.
Kerensa DeMars is a dancer and choreographer, and the artistic director of Studio K Flamenco. She has performed internationally at venues including London's Royal Festival Hall, the Teatro Calderón of Madrid, the Tivoli Theater in Barcelona and San Francisco's Yerba Buena Center for the Arts. Kerensa has toured with major flamenco companies in the US and is the founding director of the San Francisco Flamenco Dance Company. Prior to relocating to Milwaukee in 2019, Kerensa served as Artistic Director of the Flamenco Room, San Francisco’s longest running weekly flamenco show, for fifteen years.
She has received major choreography commissions from the San Francisco Arts Commission, the Azahar Dance Foundation, the Teatro Pradillo and Theatre Bay Area for her work. She has directed fifteen full length Flamenco productions (including three works for children) and presented her work in Madrid, San Francisco, Chicago, Barcelona, Los Angeles and Paris.
Kerensa is the creator and Artistic Director of the Flamenco Nutcracker, now in its seventh consecutive year. She is the recipient of a WI Special Projects Grant to create (W)here in the World, a dance festival that uplifts the work of Wisconsin’s traditional dance artists. Learn more about the work of Studio K Flamenco here: https://www.studiokflamenco.com/
Malia Chow & Nā Hale Cultural Arts
Malia Chow is a Native-Hawaiian woman and has extensive involvement in the Polynesian community here in Wisconsin and the Midwest. She works directly with Native Hawaiian, Pacific Islanders and First Nations Indigenous populations in multiple avenues including professional and volunteer work in: social justice, mental health, and cultural and environmental artistic performance and programming. Since 1996 she has directed and performed in hundreds of performances annually to perpetuate the Indigenous culture of Polynesian people. She has travelled abroad to Mexico, Germany, and The Netherlands to teach her original works of Hula Kahiko and Auana choreographies to a large body of Hula School Instructors, Directors, and Practitioners.
In 2018, she opened Nā Hale Cultural Arts Center, Inc. whose mission is: Enriching and inspiring lives through dance, culture, music, wellness, art and community; in the spirit of Aloha, and in honor of indigenous wisdom and it’s ability to nurture and unify people and the planet,.
As Founder, and Program Director, Malia creates, develops, and teaches programs to the community. Upcoming projects include the first Midwest Aloha Festival in September of 2026. The event features an artist collaborative work entitled, “At the Crossroads of Peace, there is a Rainbow.” https://www.nahalestudios.com/
Alejandra Jiménez & Ometochtli Mexican and Aztec Dance
Alejandra Jiménez was born in Cuernavaca, Morelos, México and began dancing at the age of five. By twelve she had joined the Compañía de Danza Folclórica de la Universidad del Estado de Morelos. Her passion for the performing arts, education, and nature led her to pursue a Bachelor’s Degree in Biology and a Diploma in Mexican Folk Dance and Arts. She also completed a technical certification in Mexican Folk Dance at the Universidad Simón Bolívar in Tixtla, Guerrero.
In 2010, Alejandra moved to Kenosha, Wisconsin, where she earned a Master’s Degree in Education at Carthage College. While there, she taught Latin dances and created choreographies for the annual performance at Carthage’s Wartburg Theatre. She also began developing choreographies that combined dance with environmental education, presenting projects in Mexico, Guatemala, and the United States.
In 2020, Alejandra founded Ometochtli Mexican and Aztec Dance, with the mission of helping Mexican Americans and Mexicans connect with their cultural heritage in Milwaukee, while promoting and preserving Mexican traditions. Alejandra is passionate about sharing her culture through movement and artistic expression. Her mission is to celebrate and preserve Mexican traditions while fostering community, social responsibility, and cross-cultural understanding.