When prose dances and dance walks

Abstract

To Paul Valéry, prose follows the less action path, as in marching in a straight line, and poetry, as in dancing – in as much as it is a «system of acts» – it not only intends to go nowhere but it remains in its own realisation, creating its own purpose. Why then does his prose contain this commanded impulse, led by desire, and his poetry does not, since they are so often one and the same? In this essay, looking at works by Rainer Marie Rilke, Fernando Pessoa, António Vieira and Yvette K. Centeno, I develop the idea that, very often, to establish a distinction between genres can be impractical and useless, if one considers concepts such as march/walk and dance from a choreographic perspective. Even if it be a possible question and since it has nevertheless been the object of study by scholars of all times, why is it undertaken? Why can’t prose be danced to, and poetry marched to? Can the walking essence unconsciously dance?