Month: May 2017

A Monaco company has won the coveted Gold Medal and Best in Show award at the world-famous Chelsea Flower Show in London. Scape Design, directed by Christiane Kohn, has offices on boulevard des Moulins in Monaco.

Designer James Basson, who has worked on the Riviera for more than 17 years, specialises in creating low maintenance, dry gardens that mix contemporary design with traditional skills.

“Creating timeless sustainable landscapes that are sympathetic to the natural environment, we use young plants that are compatible with the native climate and soil, requiring little if any, irrigation,” an approach very well suited to the Principality.

Inspired by an abandoned Maltese quarry, the message behind the winning garden is that humans need to take action to preserve the fragile environment of our planet. Sustainable water disposal, recycling and composting: all are vital if Malta is to save its distinct and delicate landscapes, Scape Design said.

Commenting pithily on the prestigious award, announced on Wedmesday, May 24, Scape Design said of its winning garden, described by some as “uncompromising”: “It’s not supposed to be pretty.”

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The Junior Chamber of Commerce of Monaco begins its new series of training courses in personal development with “The etiquette of business” on Tuesday.

This interactive instruction is intended for all professionals who wish to improve their presentation skills and develop better relations in a business environment.

During this workshop, participants will look at various subjects, in particular: general etiquette of business in the international environment; dress codes; interpersonal communication and non-verbal language; the world of work: initiation and management of meetings, and management of conflict situations at meetings.

This workshop will be hosted by Mita Luciani Ranier, Founder of the International Academy of Etiquette and Protocol in Rome. The workshop will be held at the International University of Monaco, located at Stade Louis II starting at 6:30 pm, in French and English.

Registration, €20, is required online, with a discount of 50 percent for associates and senators of JCEM. JCEM members with up-to-date membership will be able to take part free of charge.

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Stage Acts Entertainment is teaming up with the International School of Monaco (ISM) to bring a piece of London’s West End to Monte Carlo.

Award-winning producers Paul Spicer and Matt Firth will create a weeklong course in musical theatre at ISM running from July 10 until July 14. The workshop features a specially selected team of practitioners from London’s theatreland, offering the students a chance to work on material from hit musicals – and with cast members from the actual shows – including Mamma Mia!, Footloose, Hairspray, School of Rock, Legally Blonde and Fame.

The course is open to students at ISM between the ages of 8 and 18 to allows them to work closely with performers, directors, choreographers and producers, inspiring each individual to become the best that they can be at this very specific style of performance, while also providing incomparable opportunities to strengthen confidence and improve on all manner of performance and communication skills.

Students will also work closely with Leanne Harwood, who has extensive experience in film, TV and musical theatre. Leanne trained at Guildford School of Acting and her credits include The Crown (Netflix) the West End revival of La Cage Aux Folles starring Graham Norton, UK tours of Grease & Footloose, the international tour of Mamma Mia! and, most recently, Theatre Royal Stratford East’s acclaimed production of Oh, What A Lovely War! starring Caroline Quentin.

Workshops include sessions in the three major disciplines of acting, singing and dancing. The sessions will be spent working in detail on material lifted directly from many smash-hit musicals.

Both Paul Spicer and Matt Firth began their careers appearing in West End musicals, Avenue Q, Mamma Mia!, The Witches of Eastwick, Sweeney Todd and The Last 5 Years to name but a few. Having spent 20 years based in London, their production company Stage Acts Entertainment relocated to the South of France.

For more information visit the website or call Paul Spicer on +33 9 50 74 98 89.

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Laurent Puons, CEO of the 57th Monte-Carlo Television Festival, which will run from June 16 -20, has announced the recipients of its range of prestigious Special Prizes, awarded each year in collaboration with its partner organisations: AMADE, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), the Monaco Red Cross and SIGNIS.

Laurent Puons said: I’m very pleased to announce this diverse selection of recipients for our Special Prizes in 2017. These coveted, long-standing awards offer a unique celebration of the extraordinary potential of television to uncover and explore important stories and issues that have strong relevance to a global audience”.

Judged by expert international juries, winners of these renowned Special Prizes are selected from the diverse entries received from across the globe as part of the Festival’s annual competition.

The AMADE Prize, awarded to a television programme that explores a human issue, will go to Reel Time: Isinulat sa Tubig (Reel Time: Forgotten Children of the Waves), from the Philippines. Produced by GMA News TV, this unique documentary uncovers the determination of the children of Matnog, a remote village in the Philippines, to receive the education that is, for them, their only way out of poverty.

Rewarding a documentary that highlights a principle of international humanitarian law, the Press Prize of the ICRC goes to Les Migrants Ne Savent Pas Nager (Aquarius, Rescue in Deadly Waters). Produced by France’s Point Du Jour, the documentary centres on the humanitarian crisis taking place in Mediterranean waters, as two journalists witness the daily commitment of those aboard the Aquarius, a vessel chartered by SOS Méditerranée, with the objective of saving the lives of those attempting to reach Europe.

Television film Ein Teil Von Uns (Part of Us) will be awarded two honours at the Festival – the Prize of the Monaco Red Cross, recognising a fiction programme that demonstrates one of the seven fundamental principles of the Red Cross, and the SIGNIS Prize, The Silver Dove, which highlights and promotes productions that use artistic and technical talent to create inspiring content that encourages reflection. Produced by Germany’s Constantin Television GmbH, drama Ein Teil Von Uns centres on the story of Nadja as she is pulled back into a spiral of love, hate, responsibility, guilt and shame, when her mother, after years apart, comes back into her life.

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The Monaco Grand Prix pre-event barrage of comments from teams and drivers is well underway before track action starts on Thursday, May 25, three days ahead of the world’s favourite Grand Prix event.

Louis Hamilton has been one of the first to make a contribution, saying that the Monaco Grand Prix is “all about mental strength”. The Mercedes driver is bidding for his third victory after winning in 2008 and again last year in a mix of wet and dry conditions. His controversial late pit-stop in 2015 pushed him down to third place on the podium.

“The most important thing is that you have to learn to walk before you run,” Hamilton said this week. “You have to build up to the pace so that, by the time you work up to that second run in Q3, you’re at 100 percent. It’s a circuit which is all about mental strength, you need to be sharp and clear. Experience counts here too – that helps massively in setting the car up.”

However, Hamilton doesn’t underestimate the challenges. Monaco is notorious for its lack of overtaking opportunities and in the urban setting of the Principality pole position is highly coveted. There are also modifications to the cars.

“We have new cars this weekend which are wider and faster, so that’s going to be a massive challenge. In trying to push the car as close as you can to the limit, it’ll be a real test of your awareness of where the car is. I’m sure there will be some brushing of the barriers,” Hamilton said.

Mercedes have an eight-point lead over Ferrari in the Constructors’ standings, with Hamilton six points behind Sebastian Vettel in the Drivers’ battle. In the recent Spanish Grand Prix in Barcelona, Hamilton got off to a bad start, despite his pole position, and them climbed back to win the race after a tussle with Vettel in which the Brit shot past the German on the outside of turn one.

The Monaco Grand Prix is always a great spectacle, but changes to the cars and the battle between Hamilton and Vettel promise to add even more interest on Sunday.

Look for Monaco Life’s interview this week with Felipe Massa.