Charity show set to be Raquel Peña’s final personal performance

Raquel Peña has announced that she will make her last, personal performance in public at a charity cabaret show to be held at the Orihuela Costa Resort on Saturday 6 December.

The show will feature Raquel and dancers from the Raquel Peña Flamenco Dance Company, together with the popular Beatles tribute act, The Liverpool Band. The evening will culminate with a Giant Charity Wagon Wheel draw, and there are fantastic prizes to be won including a luxury seven day Mediterranean cruise.  

Raquel Peña said: “The cabaret evening will probably be my last personal performance, although my dance company will continue to perform, and I will teach and choreograph. I feel that as I will be 70 years old in May, I would prefer to leave my performing days on a high. I feel very fortunate to have been able to continue performing up to now, but it’s time for my talented youngsters to take over.”

The Raquel Peña Dance Company has hosted sell-out shows for more than 10 years, and for each performance, has made a substantial donation to a chosen charity. On this occasion, six charities will benefit from the cabaret evening in what is called a ‘Charity Wagon Wheel’. Each charity has a number of raffle tickets to publicise and sell. Tickets cost 5€ each, with 3€ from each ticket going directly into the purchaser’s nominated charity, with the remaining 2€ to be set aside to pay for fantastic raffle prizes. The charities are: The HELP Associations of Vega Baja and Mar Menor; AFA (Alzheimer’s Association); Caring Together; AEBE (Butterfly Children), and The Cancer Support Group (MABS).

The cabaret evening starts at 8.30pm on Saturday 6 December at the Orihuela Costa Resort pavilion. Tickets for the cabaret cost 10€, or 25€ for a combined pre-show meal and cabaret. Those who purchase the combined dinner and cabaret tickets will have specially reserved seats for the show.

It is certainly a show not to be missed, and could be the last opportunity to see Raquel make her final public performance in what has been a phenomenal dance career. While Raquel makes her final performance, her protégé, Pride of Spain and Spain’s Next Star award winner, Jay Markwick, will perform in public for the first time ever a new tango with his dance partner, Harriet Gingell.

Tickets can be reserved by calling 96 676 0800, or 630 689 431, or at the reception desk at the Orihuela Costa Resort.

Businesses or individuals can still make donations of prizes for the Grand Charity Wagon Wheel prize draw. For further information on how to donate or where to buy tickets, call event co-coordinator, David Bennett on 626 393 297.

Raquel Peña’s dance career in brief

Born to a Spanish father and Dutch mother in Holland, Raquel Peña’s dance career started in New York when she was just four years old. She earned a degree in classical ballet at the New York Metropolitan Opera School of Ballet, a later, a further degree from the Royal Conservatory of Madrid in Spanish and Flamenco dance.

Raquel went on to perform, form her own company and teach in America and Spain, before moving to Campoverde in 1970 with her late husband, Fernando Sirvent, who was a professional classical flamenco guitarist. The Spanish branch of the Raquel Peña School of Flamenco was formed in Pilar de la Horadada in 1971 where Raquel has nurtured some of the finest flamenco dancers in Spain.

The Raquel Peña Dance company is a not for profit organisation, and Raquel will continue to tutor a select number of talented youngsters, including Spain’s Next Star and Pride of Spain award winner, Jay Markwick. She also holds sevillanas classes for adults at her studio in Pilar de la Horadada and runs a sevillanas club which takes place on the last Sunday of every month at the Orihuela Costa Resort, La Zenia.

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