The 2023/2024 season of the Nice Côte d’Azur Opera aims to blend art and sport. For this athletic start, the establishment is planning two events: the Hip Hop’Era festival and the traditional Family Reunion.
“Let yourself be surprised”, these are the key words of this new season. A start under the sign of sport, with the approach of the Rugby World Cup which is partly setting up in Nice, the arrival of the 2024 Tour de France in the Côte d’Azur capital, and the Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games.
After the Metal Up festival that kicked off the season last September, for this start, the Nice Côte d’Azur Opera has decided to pit not just two musical genres, but two dance styles against each other with a battle: ballet and breakdance.
The Hip Hop’Era festival takes place on Saturday, September 2, 2023. “It is in a spirit of openness, connection, and sustainability that the Nice Opera opens its doors and invites hip hop within its walls with the Hip Hop’Era festival”, it shares.
The show kicks off on the opera forecourt from 2 PM to 7 PM before moving inside onto the main stage starting at 8 PM. The battle is followed by a DJ Set from Dee Nasty, a pioneer of French hip hop. Tickets are still available right here.
Ballerinas vs Breakers
The highlight of this day lies in a very special battle. 8 dancers from the Nice Méditerranée Ballet will face 8 breakdance dancers in a “innovative and hybrid” battle, inspired by hip-hop codes. A way to highlight the breakdance discipline, which officially joins the Olympic competition for the first time in 2024 in Paris.
This battle was envisioned by Julia Funky-J, the winner of the “Juste Debout” World Cup. The champion is one of the iconic figures of locking, internationally, a hip-hop dance style, more musical than breakdance.
Starting at 2 PM, the hip-hop dancers registered for the event will go through pre-selections. 8 of them will be chosen to form duos with 8 pre-selected classical dancers. These duos will be drawn at random in front of the public and will then have time to interact and work together before the evening’s battle.
They will dance to the sounds of DJ Bironex’s turntables, which will blend classical music and hip hop in front of a jury of dancers recognized in their field, David Colas and Dimust.
Graffiti in the Spotlight
Alongside the battle, urban art is also highlighted through the “Graff Hip Hop’Era Contest”. Pre-selected artists thus have the opportunity to create a piece live, between 2 PM and 6 PM on the Opera’s esplanade, Saint-François de Paul street.
They will need to express their creativity on a 3m x 3m canvas. All the creations will be exhibited on the Opera stage and will serve as the decor for the Hip Hop’Era Battle, taking place from 8 PM to 12 AM.
At the end of the competition, three winners will be chosen. The winners will be offered, according to their ranking, the creation of mural works, live performances, and even spray paints.
The Nice Côte d’Azur Opera then invites you to its traditional Family Reunion on September 10 at 10 AM. This will allow you to enjoy a preview of the season’s highlights. As Nice is in the midst of the Rugby World Cup, the rugby ball will be celebrated at the opening of the event.
The symphonic work Rugby will be played. Its composer Arthur Honegger said: “I simply seek to express in my musician’s language, the attacks and counterattacks of the game, the rhythm, and the color of a match at Stade de Colombes.”
More information and reservation just here.
