Paul was a slightly restless child. His parents decided to channel his energy by encouraging him to practice gymnastics, which worked—more or less—until he was 12. At that age, he chose to break free from what he found to be an overly strict environment, in order to better explore his creative youth. He would later acknowledge that his athletic years gave him strong physical and acrobatic abilities.
Triathlon, scouting, and various maritime activities then shaped his teenage years in Antibes, until his junior year of high school, when he discovered circus arts through the Compagnie des Rêves Funambules and decided to dedicate part of his life to it.
For a time a trapeze artist, Paul entered the National School of Circus Arts in Rosny-sous-Bois (ENACR) as a porter in Korean cradle. Finding the discipline too restrictive for his taste, he chose to stop after eight months. He parted ways with his slender flyer and turned to aerial straps instead. His training then led him to the National Centre for Circus Arts (CNAC) in Châlons-en-Champagne with this new discipline. While catching up technically, his body began to show early signs of fatigue. Several months of recovery led Paul to rethink his approach to movement and training in order to avoid worsening his injury. Through his artistic worlds and character work, he gradually moved closer to dance—a practice his aching back allowed—and began developing research around this newly sensitive body through movement.
An intuitive builder, passionate about science and chemistry, and a long-time tinkerer and maker, Paul was offered the opportunity to join the CNAC’s “new magic” program, enabling him to incorporate these new skills into his creative work.