{"id":1512,"date":"2024-07-12T05:30:09","date_gmt":"2024-07-12T05:30:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/projects.ieimedia.com\/2024arles\/?p=1512"},"modified":"2024-10-13T19:56:33","modified_gmt":"2024-10-13T19:56:33","slug":"after-pirouetting-through-childhood-twins-find-their-own-paths","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/projects.ieimedia.com\/2024arles\/after-pirouetting-through-childhood-twins-find-their-own-paths\/","title":{"rendered":"Pirouetting through childhood, twins find their own paths"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Story by <a href=\"https:\/\/projects.ieimedia.com\/2024arles\/contributors\/karla-valdez\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">Karla Valdez<\/a><br>Photos by <a href=\"https:\/\/projects.ieimedia.com\/2024arles\/contributors\/malcolm-taylor\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">Malcolm Taylor<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Identical twins Lola and Marie Arnaud spent their childhood in the ballet studio, creating memories together through intense training. Together, they went from 4-year-olds in leotards and ballet slippers to adolescents in tutus on pointe, but their dreams for the future turned out to be different.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The twins, who grew up in Arles, practiced together until they were 13 years old, taking classes at the Arabesque dance school. Lola loved classical dance and Marie leaned more towards contemporary style.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But at 16, Marie decided to venture out into a different path and conclude her career in dance.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cI couldn&#8217;t see myself dancing for a choreographer all my life,\u201d said Marie, who now lives in Paris. \u201cI wanted to keep my freedom. \u2026 I was always creative and like to have control over the things I create; that\u2019s why I&#8217;m doing chiseling right now.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Now 19, Marie attends \u00c9cole Boulle, a university in Paris, where she is double majoring in design and chiseling, the art of carving wood, metal or stone to engrave a statue or make jewelry.&nbsp;Meanwhile, Lola is a ballerina at the Arles Youth Ballet Company, training in a supportive environment alongside passionate dancers from around the world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>See Lola Arnaud and colleagues at the Arles Youth Ballet Company practice in the slideshow below.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"alignnormal\"><div id=\"metaslider-id-1696\" style=\"width: 100%; margin: 0 auto;\" class=\"ml-slider-3-90-0 metaslider metaslider-flex metaslider-1696 ml-slider ms-theme-default\" role=\"region\" aria-roledescription=\"Slideshow\" aria-label=\"Ballet 6 Malcolm Taylor and Karla Valdez\">\n    <div id=\"metaslider_container_1696\">\n        <div id=\"metaslider_1696\" class=\"flexslider\">\n            <ul class='slides'>\n                <li style=\"display: block; width: 100%;\" class=\"slide-1697 ms-image \" aria-roledescription=\"slide\" aria-label=\"slide-1697\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"5914\" height=\"3220\" src=\"https:\/\/projects.ieimedia.com\/2024arles\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/20240703_MalcolmTaylor_Ballet_01-2.jpg\" class=\"slider-1696 slide-1697\" alt=\"\" rel=\"\" title=\"20240703_MalcolmTaylor_Ballet_01-2\" \/><\/li>\n                <li style=\"display: none; width: 100%;\" class=\"slide-1698 ms-image \" aria-roledescription=\"slide\" aria-label=\"slide-1698\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"3438\" height=\"1964\" src=\"https:\/\/projects.ieimedia.com\/2024arles\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/20240703_MalcolmTaylor_Ballet_02-1.jpg\" class=\"slider-1696 slide-1698\" alt=\"\" rel=\"\" title=\"20240703_MalcolmTaylor_Ballet_02-1\" \/><\/li>\n                <li style=\"display: none; width: 100%;\" class=\"slide-1699 ms-image \" aria-roledescription=\"slide\" aria-label=\"slide-1699\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"5903\" height=\"3371\" src=\"https:\/\/projects.ieimedia.com\/2024arles\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/20240703_MalcolmTaylor_Ballet_03-1.jpg\" class=\"slider-1696 slide-1699\" alt=\"\" rel=\"\" title=\"20240703_MalcolmTaylor_Ballet_03-1\" \/><\/li>\n                <li style=\"display: none; width: 100%;\" class=\"slide-1700 ms-image \" aria-roledescription=\"slide\" aria-label=\"slide-1700\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"6066\" height=\"2840\" src=\"https:\/\/projects.ieimedia.com\/2024arles\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/20240703_MalcolmTaylor_Ballet_04-1.jpg\" class=\"slider-1696 slide-1700\" alt=\"\" rel=\"\" title=\"20240703_MalcolmTaylor_Ballet_04-1\" \/><\/li>\n                <li style=\"display: none; width: 100%;\" class=\"slide-1701 ms-image \" aria-roledescription=\"slide\" aria-label=\"slide-1701\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"6240\" height=\"2873\" src=\"https:\/\/projects.ieimedia.com\/2024arles\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/20240703_MalcolmTaylor_Ballet_05-1.jpg\" class=\"slider-1696 slide-1701\" alt=\"\" rel=\"\" title=\"20240703_MalcolmTaylor_Ballet_05-1\" \/><\/li>\n                <li style=\"display: none; width: 100%;\" class=\"slide-1702 ms-image \" aria-roledescription=\"slide\" aria-label=\"slide-1702\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"6240\" height=\"2976\" src=\"https:\/\/projects.ieimedia.com\/2024arles\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/20240703_MalcolmTaylor_Ballet_06-1.jpg\" class=\"slider-1696 slide-1702\" alt=\"\" rel=\"\" title=\"20240703_MalcolmTaylor_Ballet_06-1\" \/><\/li>\n                <li style=\"display: none; width: 100%;\" class=\"slide-1703 ms-image \" aria-roledescription=\"slide\" aria-label=\"slide-1703\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"6240\" height=\"3340\" src=\"https:\/\/projects.ieimedia.com\/2024arles\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/20240703_MalcolmTaylor_Ballet_07-1.jpg\" class=\"slider-1696 slide-1703\" alt=\"\" rel=\"\" title=\"20240703_MalcolmTaylor_Ballet_07-1\" \/><\/li>\n                <li style=\"display: none; width: 100%;\" class=\"slide-1704 ms-image \" aria-roledescription=\"slide\" aria-label=\"slide-1704\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"6039\" height=\"3441\" src=\"https:\/\/projects.ieimedia.com\/2024arles\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/20240703_MalcolmTaylor_Ballet_08-1.jpg\" class=\"slider-1696 slide-1704\" alt=\"\" rel=\"\" title=\"20240703_MalcolmTaylor_Ballet_08-1\" \/><\/li>\n            <\/ul>\n        <\/div>\n        \n    <\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>While Marie chose not to continue dancing professionally, she still loves to dance and practices in her free time. But she wanted her independence from the industry and was eager to discover her artistic side on her own.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cIt was not a black or white choice; it took three years,\u201d she said. \u201cIt was not an easy choice at all. There were still things that I loved and did all my life; you just have to be ready to shift completely.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Lola said she accepted the news that her sister was taking a different path.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cWhen she told me, I wasn&#8217;t sad or shocked that she quit ballet,\u201d Lola said. \u201cWhatever is right for her.\u201d&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The life of a dancer is competitive and intense, not only physically but mentally as well. Lola has experienced two ankle sprains and tendonitis during her career, and maintaining a healthy relationship with food was not always easy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;I had a weird relationship with my body and food for some years,&#8221; said Lola. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It was only as she got older that she came to accept her body and realize that food was fuel, not something she needed to deprive her body of.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Now, at the Arles Youth Ballet Company, Lola says her directors and choreographers don&#8217;t judge or pressure her to look a certain way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;We don&#8217;t have this mentality of treating dancers like that,&#8221; said Norton Fantinel, co-director of the youth ballet company. &#8220;Our philosophy is human and innovative, treating dancers with respect and kindness.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Lola dedicates long hours of practice each week from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Saturday. This intense training prepares her to participate in performances&nbsp; and competitions, from classical to neoclassical genres.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cIt is also very intense mentally because you cannot take things personally,\u201d Lola said, noting that dance \u201cis a main part of you because that&#8217;s all you do. It&#8217;s very hard to be detached from the intense feedback.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But through the intensity that ballet carries, Lola has persevered and grown as a dancer these last few years, especially with the support she is receiving now at the Arles Youth Ballet Company. Her efforts have paid off.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThe first time I got a gold medal, I was like, that&#8217;s so nice, because I would look at people getting gold medals and I was like, &#8220;I wish it was me,\u201d she said. \u201cAnd then when it was me. it was very rewarding.\u201d&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Over the years, Lola has developed healthy habits that allow her to enjoy the art form for what it is. She makes sure to take deep breaths when she feels stressed or anxious about her performances, eat healthy foods and feel energized before going on stage.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cDancing is very pleasing because you are in control of your body, especially if you do something technical and it works out super nice,\u201d she said. \u201cI love the artistic side of it, to dance, it is a sense of freedom because I like being on stage.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Lola is in her fourth year with the Arles Youth Ballet Company, which was founded four years ago to give young dancers professional-quality training that will prepare them for careers in dance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Fantinel, co-director of the company with his wife, Karina Moreira, said they have helped many dancers to further their careers. This year alone, they have helped 11 dancers fulfill their dreams and find jobs.&nbsp;<br><br>&#8220;I&#8217;m excited to join a company and perform a repertoire that suits me to grow as an artist, and my near future goals would be to ameliorate my weak points, so that I can be as good as I can.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Fantinel said students from all over the world come to train at the Arles Youth Ballet Company. The different cultures and languages represented creates a rich atmosphere for learning and collaboration. Everyone is able to learn things from one another, Fantinel says, while together they create a strong team.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cYour company is a reflection of your work and values,\u201d Fantinel said. \u201cThat is why I never work a day in my life because I love what I do.\u201d&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Though Lola and Marie have taken different career paths, they remain close and still dance together from time to time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cWhen I went to visit her in Paris during my holidays we took classes together,\u201d Lola said. \u201cShe still loves to dance, just not professionally.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Watch Lola and Marie perform together in <\/em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/search?q=%22Lola+arnaud%22+dancer+arles&amp;rlz=1C5GCEM_enUS1101FR1114&amp;oq=%22Lola+Arnaud%22+&amp;gs_lcrp=EgZjaHJvbWUqBggAEEUYOzIGCAAQRRg7MgYIARBFGEAyBggCEEUYOTIGCAMQIxgnMggIBBAAGBYYHjIKCAUQABiABBiiBDIKCAYQABiABBiiBNIBCDYzMDhqMGo0qAIAsAIB&amp;sourceid=chrome&amp;ie=UTF-8#fpstate=ive&amp;vld=cid:31c28b32,vid:lBMUc2m_2bg,st:0\"><em>this video<\/em><\/a><em>, shot in 2016.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Lola Arnaud will perform a Tacon Flamenco piece on July 30 at the ancient Roman theater in Arles.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Story by Karla ValdezPhotos by Malcolm Taylor Identical twins Lola and Marie Arnaud spent their childhood in the ballet studio, creating memories together through intense training. Together, they went from 4-year-olds in leotards and ballet slippers to adolescents in tutus on pointe, but their dreams for the future turned out to be different.&nbsp; The twins, &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/projects.ieimedia.com\/2024arles\/after-pirouetting-through-childhood-twins-find-their-own-paths\/\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Pirouetting through childhood, twins find their own paths<\/span> <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":34,"featured_media":1519,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[94],"tags":[17,119],"class_list":["post-1512","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-arts","tag-arles","tag-dance"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/projects.ieimedia.com\/2024arles\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/20240703_MalcolmTaylor_Ballet_01-1-scaled.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/projects.ieimedia.com\/2024arles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1512","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/projects.ieimedia.com\/2024arles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/projects.ieimedia.com\/2024arles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/projects.ieimedia.com\/2024arles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/34"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/projects.ieimedia.com\/2024arles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1512"}],"version-history":[{"count":19,"href":"https:\/\/projects.ieimedia.com\/2024arles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1512\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2001,"href":"https:\/\/projects.ieimedia.com\/2024arles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1512\/revisions\/2001"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/projects.ieimedia.com\/2024arles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1519"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/projects.ieimedia.com\/2024arles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1512"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/projects.ieimedia.com\/2024arles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1512"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/projects.ieimedia.com\/2024arles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1512"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}