I love the South of France and use every chance I get to visit and enjoy it. My usual pick to stay at is Villa Hippocampo, and I’ve stayed here with my husband and family often. However, this fall, my girlfriends and I took much-needed time off to travel and explore together, just like we did in our university days before life and obligations took over.
While Villefranche-sur-Mer and the surroundings are amazing and have so many fascinating things to offer, we wanted to recreate some of our earlier experiences. During our younger years, my friends and I were regular visitors to the ballet on account of one of our friends playing the violin in the orchestra. But things have radically changed since we were almost-broke students sitting in the cheap seats back home in the NYC Ballet.
Since we’ve come a long way, we decided to recreate a part of our experience of visiting the ballet, but this time, we opted to attend the ballet in Monaco. Our primary impressions were that some things had changed and some things remained the same – regarding us as spectators and the ballet performers.
Even though we came here at the start of winter, the weather does not feel at all wintry, but it is mild and comfortable. This allowed us to explore and enjoy ourselves and prepare for attending the ballet in Monaco in style.
I’ve been to the Opera de Monte Carlo before, enjoying an opera performance at the Salle Granier. Still, I was so happy to visit the Grimaldi Forum to see an event there. I’ve been to the Grimaldi Forum as a visitor, but attending an event brings a whole different experience – the lights, the music, and the other visitors all contribute to the atmosphere.
Luckily for us, and via careful planning, we managed to reserve tickets for the Monaco Dance Forum Sol Invictus performance. Interestingly, the ticket price is so affordable, with only €34 per ticket. I have to share the experience with you here, as I’ve not had so much fun with my girlfriends for ages. The entire day was fantastic; the preparation for the event made us feel younger and buzzing with energy.
We all took the preparation seriously, from makeup to putting on elegant cocktail dresses and preparing for an evening out. The drive from Villefrance-sur-Mer to Monaco was quick and took us about 30 minutes; it passed in a blur of reliving happy memories and expecting to be amazed by the performance.
And amazed we were. The performance of Sol Invictus was brilliant and perfectly blended classical and hip-hop culture, emphasizing the performers’ love for their craft. We were truly impressed and so happy we chose to spend a night at the ballet in Monaco. The Grimaldi Forum is indeed a marvel of architecture and engineering; after watching a performance here, my friends and I have been simply stunned by the entire experience.
We were sorry to see the performance end so quickly, but it was worth it, as it is a dream come true for every fan of cultural events. After the performance ended, my girls and I went back to Villa Hippocampo, where we enjoyed a glass of wine and shared our experiences, concluding that this was a successful evening that I hope we can relive again soon.
