We put it in the category of distant, kitschy universes, somewhere between majorettes and synchronized swimming... So let's seize the opportunity to discover the hidden part of the iceberg: where passion is paid for in liters of sweat, hours of effort, perseverance and self-sacrifice. Welcome to the St Ouen ice school in Seine-Saint-Denis (Parisian suburbs), a school of sport and life.
Here, two or three hours a day, the little skaters come to train. They're eleven, twelve, sometimes younger. Graceful bodies and strong wills. The families form teams to support the athletes and keep them busy. In addition to the cold, they have to put up with fatigue, technical difficulties, tension and the pressure of a discipline that is almost impossible to turn into a profession.
So you won't see any salto or triple lutz piqué here. (Not) holiday(s) on ice is an incursion into the usually closed backstage area. Between the foam-covered corridors and the neon 70s dressing rooms: an opportunity to admire this junior microcosm working hard in the white shadow of the ice rink.