Marbella to hold tribute gala for flamenco dancer Gema Piña on 7 December

Marbella will host a tribute gala on 7 December for the flamenco dancer and teacher Gema Piña, according to the Ayuntamiento de Marbella (town hall). The event starts at 18.30 at the Palacio de Congresos Adolfo Suárez, the town's conference centre.

The town hall says the gala will bring together former students of her dance academy and representatives of several other schools that have joined the initiative. Relatives, friends and people linked to her artistic career are also due to take part.

Proceeds for a sculpture

The town hall states that all money raised will go towards funding a sculpture in her memory. It describes the aim as keeping her figure, and her connection with the teaching of dance, present in the city.

The event will also include a barra solidaria (a charity bar). Tickets can be bought at Gema Piña's academy, at Melania's academy and at the Día supermarket on Avenida del Trapiche, the town hall said. It did not give a ticket price in the material we reviewed.

What was said at the presentation

At the presentation, mayor Ángeles Muñoz highlighted the emotional character of the event. According to the town hall, she recalled Piña's generosity and vitality and her ability "para transmitir su pasión por el flamenco, tanto a sus alumnas como al conjunto del ámbito cultural de Marbella" (to pass on her passion for flamenco, both to her students and to Marbella's cultural scene as a whole). Muñoz also said the tribute would allow people who shared her career and artistic vocation to come together.

Inmaculada Andrades, a friend of Piña, thanked the dance academies and others for their support in organising the gala. The town hall quotes her as describing it as "un sueño compartido para rendir homenaje a su amiga y contribuir a que su recuerdo permanezca en la ciudad" (a shared dream to pay tribute to her friend and help ensure her memory remains in the city).

The information comes from the town hall's own announcement. Readers wanting to attend should check ticket details at the sales points listed above.