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Episode 19: Core Strength

Carola Trier – Story of a Pilates Icon

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Publicity portrait of Carola Trier, Leo Baeck Institute Archives, Carola S. Trier Collection, AR 25039, F 60288.
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Carola Trier demonstrating Pilates, Leo Baeck Institute Archives Carola S. Trier Collection, AR 25039, F 24412.
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Holiday card from Joseph and Clara Pilates to Carola Trier, December 1956. Courtesy of the New York Public Library.
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The page in Carola Trier's handwritten memoir in which she describes meeting her lover, the entertainment manager Marcel Neydorff. Leo Baeck Institute Archives Carola S. Trier Collection, AR 25039, Box 1, Folder 10.

Carola’s dream is to be a dancer. In 1935, she moves from Germany to Paris to pursue a career on stage. But as a young, Jewish performer, Carola struggles with a lack of fulfilling work, dwindling funds, and a rising tide of antisemitism. Carola’s strong will carries her through the perils of Nazi-occupied France, losing the love of her life, and the long journey to America—where she finds a new passion that becomes her greatest legacy.

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