MariaLuisa Colmenarez

About the Artist

For over four decades, proud daughter of Oaxaqueños, Maria Luisa Colmenarez has played a large role in ensuring Mexican folk dance remains accessible to the community while advocating for a larger presence in the performing arts space. She currently serves as the executive director of Danzantes Unidos de California, a cultural network of Mexican folk dancers and artists which plans the largest Mexican folk dance festival in the U.S., Danzantes Unidos Festival, and facilitates ​a wide variety of Mexican folk dance and cultural programming. Ms. Colmenarez is a lecturer at San Jose State University, and the co-founder and artistic director of San ​Jose’s “La Ultima Parada: A Celebration of Life on the Day of the Dead.” Additionally, she served as a cultural consultant for the award-winning Disney/Pixar film, “Coco.”