Monte-Carlo Ballet’s Jean-Christophe Maillot is leading the jury to select the best of the best at this year’s Prix de Lausanne.
One of the dance world’s most coveted prizes, the Prix de Lausanne dance competition has invited 80 of the world’s top young ballerinas to spend a week, from 29th January to 5th February, honing their skills and performing their art while a panel of expert judges, including Monaco’s Jean-Christophe Maillot, watch their every move.
The goal is for students from smaller institutions to have a shot at joining top drawer ones by facilitating scholarships to partner companies or dance schools where they embark on a year’s training to help them move to the next level of their careers.
The event has returned home to Lausanne’s Théâtre de Beaulieu after several years of works forced a relocation to Montreux.
Of course, performances are important, but evolving is equally so, and the week is spent taking lessons and being coached to improve on the already inherent abilities of the 15 to 18-year-old dancers. The majority of the week is spent preparing for the big event on Friday 3rd February, where the group of 80 will drop to 20.
Those not selected still have a chance to perform for directors of prestigious schools, with the chance of being invited to join their institutions.
The 20 chosen ballerinas go on to the final, where they are invited to hit the stage and present their own classical and contemporary variations of the dances worked on during the week. Each jurist then ranks the performances from this group, and the winning dancers are selected using criteria set by the schools and troupes.
Dancers are judged on a variety of criterium, including artistry, individuality, sensitive response to music, physicality, technical ability and dynamic movement.
As of 1st February, people in France who test positive for Covid-19 will no longer have to self-isolate, as the country learns to live with Covid.
Almost three years after Covid-19 arrived in France and the country went into lockdown, the government is lifting the last of its control measures.
Now, people with Covid symptoms, contact cases, or those who have categorically contracted the virus are able to live their normal lives, without the need for isolation. The French government does, however, ask that these members of the population adhere to the well-known safety rules to protect the vulnerable members of the community.
If someone is a contact case, the government recommends that they notify people around them, including those in the same house, work colleagues and friends, avoid contact with fragile people, and work from home if possible. While in public, they are asked to keep a two-metre distance from others and wear a mask.
What do I do if I have Covid-19 now?
People who have tested positive for Covid-19 must still warn people around them and those they met within 48 hours of testing positive for the virus, and for a length of seven days. They must wash their hands, wear a mask and limit contact with people as much as possible. While they will no longer be contacted by the health department as part of contact tracing, these people must contact their GP as soon as possible, who can prescribe a sick-leave notice if needed.
From 1st February, the government will no longer compensate Covid-positive people who are unable to go to work.
People with the virus should not hesitate to contact their doctor in case of unusual symptoms, or call 15 immediately if they have difficulty breathing.
People with Covid have 48 hours to send a sick-leave notice from their doctor to their health insurance fund and employer.
The transfer window slammed shut on Tuesday, with no players coming through the door at AS Monaco, whilst outgoings have also been sparse.
It has been an atypically quiet January transfer window for Les Monégasques, who didn’t add to their existing group before the deadline on Tuesday evening. It is the first time that the Principality club haven’t recruited during the winter window since the 2004/05 season. Benoît Badiashile is the highest profile exit during this window, whilst there were further departures before the closure of the market.
Confirmed departures
Félix Lemarechal from Monaco to Brest
The young French midfielder, who captains the club’s Groupe Elite, is set to gain first-team, top-division experience at Ligue 1 rivals Brest. The player was absent from training on Monday ahead of a six-month loan deal to the club. The player is part of the long-term planning at Monaco, and the deal therefore doesn’t include an option to make the loan permanent. The deal was officialised on deadline day.
Coveted but staying
Jean Lucas linked by Foot Mercato to Espanyol, Troyes and Besiktas
The Brazilian midfielder has fallen down the pecking order at the Principality club and had been linked with a move before Tuesday’s deadline. However, none of the proposals matched Monaco’s expectations. The club wanted to sell the player, but all of the interested parties insisted on a loan. Espanyol’s loan offer included a purchase option of over €5 million, unlike the other two proposals, which were simple loans.
Maghnes Akliouche linked by L’Équipe to Rennes
The academy product had been linked with a departure throughout the window, and even during last summer. Lille have long been touted as a potential destination, but Stade Rennais also entered the fray. According to L’Équipe, the Breton club made a €6 million offer to acquire the attacking midfielder, who has a contract that runs until 2024. Rennes then upped their offer just before deadline day to €10m, but that proposal received a similar response. Monaco Life understands that the Principality club had no intention of letting Akliouche leave the club during the window, and he still forms part of the long-term vision of the club.
Photo of Maghnes Akliouche by Monaco Life
Targets
Sambi Lokonga linked by Foot Mercato to Monaco
The Arsenal midfielder has found game time hard to come by since his arrival from Belgium. Monaco, who see the midfield as a potential department for improvement, have considered the player this window. Foot Mercato have gone so far as to say that a bid was lodged. The French publication reports that that bid was rejected. Ultimately, Lokonga did move, but to Premier League rivals Crystal Palace on loan.
Abakar Sylla linked by L’Équipe to Monaco
Since Badiashile’s departure to Chelsea earlier in January, Les Monégasques have been scouting the market for a potential replacement. Sylla, who plays his club football at Philippe Clement’s former club, Club Brugge, was reportedly a name on the shortlist. Strong performances from Guillermo Maripán, as well as a return to a back four made the recruitment of a centre-back less of a pressing issue than it perhaps was at the beginning of the season. Monaco Life can confirm Monaco’s interest in the centre-back, however, Club Brugge’s demands were ultimately too high, which brought an end to discussions over a January move.
Returning loanee
Chrislain Matsimafrom Lorient to Monaco
Matsima joined Lorient on loan at the start of the season. However, the Monaco centre-back has only made seven starts for Les Merlus and has struggled to dislodge an established centre-back partnership. His return to the Principality club was announced on deadline day. With the club failing to land main target Sylla, Monaco saw a need to add numbers at the back, and have therefore taken the option of repatriating Matsima. He will add depth and numerically compensate for Badiashile’s departure earlier in the window.
Ultimately, Monaco’s decision not to recruit this winter was born out of a profound reflection of the impact of a player’s arrival. Whilst there were targets, it became clear that deals, particularly for Sylla, would be difficult.
Without the chance to recruit their primary targets, the club weren’t keen to panic buy and add to the squad for the sake of it. Les Monégasques currently have a functional and harmonious dressing room, and the club didn’t want to jeopardise that.
There is also the question of giving youth the chance. Should a player have been brought in, he would have been signed to compete for a starting spot, which would have potentially blocked the path of an aspiring academy product. The development and integration of youth players into the first team is a major objective at the club.
The Superyacht Life Foundation and the Monaco Yacht Show have launched the nomination process for its inaugural ‘The Honours’ – an awards ceremony that “recognises the people at the heart of the superyacht industry and praises their efforts to produce exceptional work and inspire meaningful change”.
Nominations are now open for owners, crew, and industry professionals to put forward their suggestions for candidates. Honourees will be celebrated during ‘The Honours’ evening that will be hosted on 26th September 2023 in Monaco, on the eve of the Monaco Yacht Show.
A nomination for The Honours can be given to anyone within or connected to the superyacht industry who is doing extraordinary things reflecting the extraordinary nature of this global industry, such as preserving the environment, developing communities, driving conservation, advancing design and technologies, contributing to diversity and inclusion, or instigating positive change across the industry and beyond.
Among the application rules, nominees should have achieved concrete results that have a tangible link to the superyacht industry during the past five years, the focus should be on the impact, novelty, creativity of the nominees, and their willingness to create a difference within the superyacht industry.
The International University of Monaco is holding an Open Day this Saturday 4th February.
It is an opportunity for potential students to ask the university’s programme directors questions about the courses on offer, as well as meet with current students to get an insight about student life at IUM and Monaco.
The admissions team will be on hand to also answer questions about the application process.
The International University of Monaco is a private institution founded in 1986. It’s programme portfolio includes Bachelor, Master of Science, MBA and DBA degrees. It focuses mainly on the areas of expertise closely associated with Monaco: the management of high value-added service activities, especially in the luxury and finance sectors, and has more than 70 difference nationalities among its student body.
The spread of Covid in Monaco has hit a remarkable low, with just 5% of all tests now coming back positive. The latest figures come as the World Health Organisation this week maintained its highest alert level, saying the virus is in a “transition phase”.
The weekly health figures from the government show that in the week ending 29th January, 14 new cases of Covid were identified in Monaco. The incidence rate has fallen to 36, down from 43 the previous week, however seven people are being treated for severe Covid in the Princess Grace Hospital Centre, including four residents.
Of the 655 PCR and antigen tests conducted among residents and non-residents, only 5% returned a positive result, confirming that the virus is barely present now in the Principality.
It is a similar situation around the world, apart from China, as Covid circulation has dropped dramatically thanks to widespread vaccinations and immunity through infection.
Experts are reluctant to signal the end of the pandemic just now, however they are hopeful that the world will enter a new phase of the virus in 2023.
After the 14th meeting of a Covid-19 committee on 27th January, the World Health Organisation said on Monday that the virus “continues to constitute a public health emergency of international concern”, its highest form of alert.
“The Director-General acknowledges the Committee’s views that the Covid-19 pandemic is probably at a transition point and appreciates the advice of the Committee to navigate this transition carefully and mitigate the potential negative consequences,” said the WHO in a statement.
It has been three years since WHO first declared that Covid represented a global health emergency. More than 6.8 million people have died during the outbreak, which has touched every country on earth.
WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has said he hopes to see an end to the emergency this year, particularly if access to the counter-measures can be improved globally.
“We remain hopeful that in the coming year, the world will transition to a new phase in which we reduce (Covid) hospitalisations and deaths to their lowest possible level,” said Tedros on Monday.
WHO will be hosting a webinar on 8th February on the current Covid-19 situation and what’s next. To take part, click here.
