Dance And The Soul

A new translation from the French of Paul Valéry's L'Âme et La Danse (1925). In this work, Valéry interrogates the dualist relations between body and mind, movement and thought, and dance and philosophy. Valéry employs a mock Platonic dialogue to explore these themes, in which Socrates, Phaedrus, and Eryximachus observe dancers.

Best known as a poet, Valéry (1871-1945) also published books, essays, and writings connected to philosophy. He was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature twelve times.