Our Instructors
Susana di Palma
Susana di Palma has taught Spanish/Flamenco dance for over 30 years. As a virtuoso performer and innovative choreographer, her classes challenge both the body and creative spirit. She stresses correct body alignment, use of breath, and basic technique, that benefit each student’s physical and emotional health. Her classes inspire students, encouraging them to discover their unique and joyful expression within this extraordinary Spanish art form. She strives to prepare them according to a challenging professional standard.
At whichever level of aspiration a student enters her classes, Susana carefully guides them, drawing upon her lifetime of knowledge, experience, and respect in the international flamenco world. Susana has also been an adjunct faculty member of the Dance Department at the University of Minnesota for 15 years. Recently, she taught the summer session at Minnesota Dance Theater. Susana also teaches through Distance Learning Program at The Cowles Center for Dance.
Artistic Director / Master Teacher / Choreographer / Dancer
Colette Illarde
Colette Illarde is originally from Chicago where she began dancing ballet with Edward Parish and started flamenco training with the Ensemble Español. Relocating to Minneapolis in 1998, she created FUEGO Flamenco and danced, designed, and produced many successful shows. She has received numerous awards for her work including the McKnight Fellowship for dancers.
Colette has performed with numerous groups including the Minneapolis Guitar Quartet, Rogue Flamenco, and Interact Center Theater. Colette is a dedicated ally to the disabled community and believes strongly in personal empowerment through the arts. She is currently teaching Flamenco for All Ability, encouraging dancers with and without disabilities to experience the curative power of flamenco.
Instructor / Dancer
Molly Kay Stoltz
Molly Kay Stoltz is a Twin Cities dancer, choreographer, teacher, customer service specialist, and Therapeutic Recreation specialist living in Saint Peter, MN. She is a 2009 summa BFA graduate of the University of Minnesota- Dance Program. Her work as a Therapeutic Recreation Specialist grounds her in the community and brings her dance experience together with her passion to increase the quality of the lives of the elderly living in group settings in her community. She recently worked at Sholom Home West in St. Louis Park, MN as a Therapeutic Recreation Specialist in their rehab unit, assisting patients with their emotional, spiritual, and social needs while isolated from their communities in therapy.
Molly Kay is an emerging flamenco dance artist. Molly Kay is mentored by Susana di Palma, Artistic Director for Zorongo Flamenco where she is also a company member. She was awarded an honorable mention for her solo in the competitive Flamenco Certamen USA in NYC, NY 2021. She is also a tap and percussive dance performer, choreographer, and teacher. She currently is a company member of Flying Foot Forum, and Kaleena Miller Dance.
Molly Kay joined the faculty of the University of Minnesota Dance Program as their tap professor in Fall 2020 and has taught tap dance for youth and adults at Ballare Teatro Performing Arts Center.Molly Kay’s choreography has been presented through Chicago Freelance Dance, 9×22 Dance Lab at Bryant Lake Bowl, Patrick’s Cabaret, Zenon Zone’s Summer Choreography Intensive, Zorongo Flamenco, and Flying Foot Forum. She recently premiered her work at Park Square Theater in Sept. 2021 and she was chosen in 2020 as a Resident Artist for the Hinge Arts Residency in Fergus Falls. In 2015, she produced and choreographed for Visual Grooves, which featured collaborations between composer/musicians and choreographer/dancers.
Instructor / Dancer
Marie de los Reyes
Marie de los Reyes is a former Conservatory of Flamenco Arts student and a graduate of the Department of Theatre and Dance at the University of New Mexico, studying under Eva Encinias Sandoval and Marisol Encinias with a focus on Flamenco dance & history. She has trained with several dance companies: Yjastros, Jesus Muñoz Co., and is currently with Evolución Latina in Minneapolis.
Marie Antoinette has taught dance for Albuquerque public schools as a licensed instructor YMCA and guest taught at Flamencoworks LLC. She has worked teaching full inclusion science, math, and dance in low-income schools and nonprofits for over a decade and left her post as Chair of the Department of Mathematics at South Valley Academy to work in medical engineering in Minnesota at Mayo Clinic and Boston Scientific.
Marie Antoinette holds a Master of Arts in Teaching from the University of Southern California. She has traveled to and lived in Spain, studying with master teachers such as the Galván family, Torombo, Carmen Ledesma, and former Spanish Ballet Nacional Company member: Úrsula Lopez. She hopes to expand opportunities to share this beautiful art form with others in her new home of Minneapolis.
Instructor / Dancer