Covid circulation rises again

The Principality recorded 77 new cases of Covid-19 in the week ending Sunday 2nd October, indicating that circulation of the virus remains low throughout Monaco, but there has been a small jump in the incidence rate.

It was encouraging news last week when the government revealed a drop in the incidence rate to 138, however it was to be short lived, with new figures this week indicating a jump back up to 197.

In the week from 26th September to 2nd October, 1,024 PCR and antigen tests were conducted on residents and non-residents in Monaco, with a 13.2% positivity rate, up from 10.2% the previous week.

In the neighbouring Alpes-Maritimes region, the incidence rate sits at 310 with a positivity rate of 18%.

All eyes are on next week’s figures, after thousands of people descended on the region for the Monaco Yacht Show held from 28th September to 1st October.

 

 

Pictures: Venice collides with Monaco at Dreaming in Azur charity gala

The Hôtel Hermitage was plunged into the fantastical world of Venice for Dreaming in Azur on Saturday night, an exclusive charity gala in aid of the Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation. We spoke to its artistic director Antonia Sautter. 

Antonia Sautter is the creative mind behind Il Ballo del Doge, an extravagant gala event held exclusively during the Venice Carnival every February, in which she combines the creative arts, costume, fabrics and her love of Venice and its history.

At her Atelier in the small island city, more than 1,200 creations are kept: period costumes that cross history from the Middle Ages to the 1920s, and stage costumes born from Sautter’s fantasties, specially created for artists over a period spanning more than 20 editions of Il Ballo del Doge.

She is, perhaps, one of Venice’s best ambassadors.

Dreaming in Azur, photo credit: Philippe Fitte / FPA2

In 1999, she was selected by Stanley Kubrick to make the masks used in his cinematic masterpiece Eyes Wide Shut. As part of her events company, she was asked to create an Eyes Wide Shut-themed party. It was a wife’s gift to her husband.

Antonia Sautter – the artistic director, fashion designer, and event planner, was recently voted by Forbes as one of the top 100 successful Italians.

Now, for the first time, Antonia Sautter has brought her creative talents to Monaco for Dreaming in Azur, a gala dinner organised by The Venetian Arts Foundation for the benefit of the Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation and featuring special guest, renowned singer and songwriter MIKA.

“I am so excited, you can’t even imagine,” Antonia Sautter told Monaco Life from her Venice atelier ahead of the gala. “In a matter of days, we will be on the most beautiful stage at the Hôtel Hermitage in Monaco for Prince Albert. It is such an honour, I can’t even describe it in words – I am beyond excited and honoured.”

Dreaming in Azur, photo credit: Philippe Fitte / FPA2

A team of 80 made the short trip from Venice, in northern Italy, to Monaco. Among them: artists, performers, seamstresses, staff. The evening saw no less than 100 costume changes. The Queen of the Sea was the overriding theme, in honour of Prince Albert’s mission in life and the work of his Foundation.

The Venetian Arts Foundation, which aims to protect and promote the figurative and musical arts with a focus on Venetian talents, had chosen Venetian-born Antonia Sautter as artistic director of the show for the first charity and cultural event organised by the foundation on Saturday 1st October at the Hôtel Hermitage in Monte-Carlo. All of the proceeds raised will be donated to support coastal resilience and marine protection projects, an initiative promoted by the Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation.

“We are pleased to announce that the first cultural event organised by our foundation, to benefit the Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation, boasts an important charitable scope: fundraising to support specific projects of the well-known Monegasque foundation to protect coastal resilience and to raise awareness on climate change and the rise of the seas,” said Daniela Di Giorgio and Filippo Ghirelli, entrepreneurs, philanthropists and founders of the Venetian Arts Foundation.

“This is an extraordinary opportunity to showcase a spectacle by one of the most talented Venetian artists, Antonia Sautter, a global symbol of Made in Venice, to an international audience. It represents for our Foundation a very happy official debut, in accordance with our primary mission that is to promote Italian artistic and cultural excellence all over the world. “

Filippo Ghirelli and Daniela Di Giorgio, founders of the Venetian Arts Foundation, credit: Philippe Fitte / FPA2

Antonia Sautter uses silks and velvets to reinterpret ancient techniques of dyeing and printing by hand. She is overwhelmingly passionate about her city of Venice and is excited at the new link the Venetian Arts Foundation has forged with the Principality.

Dreaming in Azur symbolises the closeness of Venice to Monaco,” said Antonia Sautter. “An elegant tribute with great emotional impact, which can unite these two similar cities in sharing a fragile beauty, given their links to the sea. I believe that Venice – with its history, atmosphere, and peculiar ‘liquid soul’ that I will stage with Dreaming in Azur – could really help us reflect on the effects of climate change and on what we, as humanity, could lose forever. I hope that the dreamlike immersion in its beauty that I created together with the artists of Il Ballo del Doge will concretely contribute to the charitable purpose of the evening, to remind all guests to contribute to the fight against rising sea level.”

A 2021 report published in Natural Hazards and Earth System Sciences suggested that the average sea level could be anywhere from 17cm to 120cm higher in Venice by 2100. “These are the effects of climate change,” Venice’s Mayor Luigi Brugnaro said in response to the 2019 floods. “The costs will be high.”

Prince Albert II with singer songwriter Mika at Dreaming in Azur. Photo credit: Philippe Fitte / FPA2

The Dreaming in Azur charity gala took the place of the Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation’s biggest annual fundraiser – the Monte-Carlo Gala for Planetary Health – which was postponed this year due to the war in Ukraine.

It means that important donations continue to be funnelled into the Prince’s Foundation, even during times of political turmoil.

“Thanks to the Venetian Arts Foundation, we will be able to strengthen our efforts in favour of coastal resilience, a common issue between Venice and Monaco, but also for many cities around the world,” said Olivier Wenden, Vice-President and CEO of the Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation.

“That is why the Foundation has launched an initiative dedicated to the Nexus Ocean-Climate-Biodiversity: we namely support pathways for mitigation of climate impacts and adaptation. We also federate experts, scientists, entrepreneurs and mayors of cities most at risk around innovative solutions.”

Antonia Sautter told Monaco Life that she hopes this is the start of a long relationship with the Principality.

 “I am very happy with this collaboration and I really hope there will be other occasions to present this work in Monaco,” said the artistic director. “Every time I do a show, it is a new world.”

 

Click on the gallery to see more images below, photos credit Philippe Fitte / FPA2…

 

Photo above of Antonia Sautter amongst performer of Dreaming in Azur, credit: Osvaldo Di Pietrantonio

 

SEE ALSO:

Podcast & interview: Prince Albert II on the rise of sustainable yachting

 

 

 

 

Monaco launches more self-service libraries

The government is continuing with its plan to offer free libraries throughout the Principality with the installation of two new ones this week.

The Department of Urban Development (DAU) kicked off the programme in 2019 by setting up self-service book stations at the Jardin de l’âne in Fontvieille and the train station. They were closed for a while during Covid-19, but the service is back on track.

The government announced this week that more free book stations have been set up in the Square Gastaud in La Condamine and the Jardin du Trocadero in Place des Moulins.

Recognisable by their unique, circular wooden design created by architects Marcelo Ertorteguy and Sara Valente, founders of Studio Stereotank in New York, the concept was, with their permission, transformed by the DAU to adapt to the Principality.

The aim is to offer a second life to books, as well as CDs or DVDs, by depositing them in the library where everyone can borrow and reuse them and prevent them from being thrown away.

The public are encouraged to support the service by depositing books they no longer want.

 

 

Photo by Manuel Vitali, Government Communication Department

 

 

 

Monte-Carlo Ballet reveals ambitious schedule

The 2022-23 season of the Ballets de Monte-Carlo is returning in an incredibly strong way with an impressive line up and a “major surprise” for the end of the season.

Jean-Christophe Maillot, long-time Artistic Director of the Ballets de Monte-Carlo, has a clear purpose for the upcoming season. He is determined to get people out of the Covid mindset and back into the theatres, and as his company’s press release states, to “restore choreographic art to the very forefront of the cultural landscape”.

To that end, and to open the season in style, the Gaithersburg Dance/Dance Compagnie Theatrehaus Stuttgart will perform 7 Sins on 10th December at the Salle Garnier, bringing together seven contemporary choreographers. Each has been charged with taking a mortal sin and turning it into a dance routine, combining dark and light in one night.

Then on 12th December, Indian dance sensation Shantala Shivalingappa will bring an eastern flair to the stage, followed on the 14th by the Kors’la Company’s haunting interpretation of Igra featuring Mattia Russo and Antonio de Rosa.

TheSevenSins, photo credit: Cherkaoui JeanetteBak

After the 2014 success of Sienna, La Veronal is back with Sonoma on 16th December. Described as “visual poetry and a primal scream”, dancers sway to the beat of drums and reconnect with the origins of universal movement in an entirely enticing way.

The Monaco Dance Forum is also back in December and will offer workshops and master classes, as well as performing a touching show for schools on the 15th using dance as an expression of joy and inclusion for people with disabilities.

As a special treat for film buffs, West Side Story will be screened on the 18th in

collaboration with the Audio Visual Institute of Monaco.

To end the year on a serious high, from the 27th to the 31st, Monte-Carlo Ballet is bringing Faust to the stage in a spectacle worthy of a year’s end. The Philharmonic Orchestra of Monte-Carlo will accompany them for these special nights.

As the New Year dawns, the momentum continues with a diverse programme, including La Belle by Jean-Christophe Maillot in the spring, featuring dancer Olga Smirnova, the Princess Grace Academy Gala, a Stravinsky tribute, and Maillot’s enchanting take on Cinderella.

As promised, a big surprise awaits in July when, on the 8th and 9th, the second edition of F(ê)Aries de la Danse returns to Casino Square, with 24 hours of parades, open air shows, workshops and exchanges with artists from around the globe.

Finally, the troupe has announced it is going back on tour, hitting cities such as Tokyo, Washington, Madrid, Brescia, Seville, Istanbul, Bari, Toulon, Nice, Venice and Barcelona.

For more information and tickets, visit the website on www.balletsdemontecarlo.mc

 

 

Photo above: Swayambhu, credit: Hector Perez

 

 

 

Prince sends message of support to US after “devastating” hurricane

Prince Albert II has sent US President Joe Biden a heartfelt note filled with condolences for the victims of Hurricane Ian, noting especially the people of Fort Myers, Florida, who suffered some of the worst losses of life and property in the recent storm.  

Hurricane Ian, the destructive Category Four storm that tore through the Caribbean before slamming into Florida’s east coast last week, now has a body count of nearly a hundred people, with over half of those coming out of the Fort Myers area.

Rescue crews are still desperately searching for survivors, and the President of the United States, Joe Biden, is expected to visit the region on Tuesday.

In the wake of the catastrophe, Prince Albert II sent his personal condolences to the president. The Prince’s warm message is clearly filled wit concern for the people of the stricken area.

“It is with great emotion and sadness that I learned the devastating effects of the hurricane Ian in Florida which had terrible consequences especially in the city of Fort Myers, regretfully causing many deaths across the state,” he said in a letter published by the Palace.

The 202nd RED HORSE Squadron clear roads in Fort Myers Beach, Florida in response to Hurricane Ian, Sept. 30, 2022. U.S. Air National Guard photo by Senior Airman Jesse Hanson

“In these tragic circumstances allow me, along with my family and the people of Monaco, to convey my heartfelt condolences to the families of the victims and our support and compassion to the injured, the displaced people and the many that had to be evacuated.

“May I also commend the massive emergency efforts underway in both states, Florida and South Carolina.

The Prince concludes by saying, “Let me assure you, Mr. President, of our profound solidarity in this difficult ordeal.”

Prince Albert II has deep ties with the United States as the place of birth of his late mother, Princess Grace, and even went to university there, graduating from Amherst College in Massachusetts in 1981 with a degree in political science.

 

 

Photo above: U.S. Air National Guard photo by Senior Airman Jesse Hanson

 

 

 

Premier League Highlights: Man City and Arsenal prevail in local derbies

Manchester City and Arsenal overcame Manchester United and Tottenham in their respective local derbies over the weekend to continue to set the pace at the top of the league. 

The Premier League returned over the weekend following the international break with 36 goals scored across 10 games.

Arsenal 3-1 Tottenham – Mikel Arteta’s side remain top of the league following a dominant display against their North London rivals. Thomas Partey opened the scoring before Harry Kane leveled from the spot. Goals from Gabriel Jesus and Granit Xhaka in the second half, as well as a red card for Emerson Royal, saw Arsenal stroll to victory.

Liverpool 3-3 Brighton – Jurgen Klopp’s struggles continue, although the post-match report could have looked much worse. A Leandro Trossard double gave Brighton an early lead before the home side hit back with a Roberto Firmino brace. Adam Webster’s own goal completed Liverpool’s turnaround before Trossard completed his hat-trick in the dying minutes to salvage a draw in Roberto De Zerbi’s first game in charge of the Seagulls.

Fulham 1-4 Newcastle – An early Nathaniel Chalobah red card set the scene for an easy afternoon for Newcastle, who proceeded to score four goals before the hour mark. Bobby Decordova-Reid salvaged a late consolation.

Southampton 1-2 Everton – Pressure is growing on Ralph Hasenhüttl. Despite taking the lead in this game through Joe Aribo, Everton took only a matter of minutes to reply with a quickfire double to sink the Saints. Southampton remain just one point above the relegation zone.

Crystal Palace 1-2 Chelsea – On his return to Selhurst Park, Conor Gallagher was the hero for Chelsea, curling home from the edge of the box late on to ensure a winning start for new manager Graham Potter.

Bournemouth 0-0 Brentford – Scores were tied at the Vitality Stadium with neither side able to break the deadlock. They both remain comfortably mid-table.

West Ham 2-0 Wolves – In a crucial match for both sides, West Ham prevailed through goals from Gianluca Scamacca and Jarrod Bowen. The game lifts the Hammers out of the relegation zone and consigned Bruno Lage to the sack at Wolves.

Manchester City 6-3 Manchester United – Erling Haaland and Phil Foden both registered hat-tricks to thump local rivals Manchester United. A late double from former Monaco man Anthony Martial gave some semblance of respectability to the score in a game that was completely dominated by the blue side of Manchester.

Leeds United 0-0 Aston Villa – Leeds took a draw away from a match in which they played almost an entire half with 10 men. Neither side could find an opener, and both remain mid-table.

Leicester City 4-0 Nottingham Forest – Brendan Rodgers’ men registered their first win of the season on Monday night, comfortably beating their local rivals, who look in trouble. Both sides remain in the relegation zone, although Leicester, who have the quality to be a comfortably top-half team, will now be looking to push on.