--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: You couldn’t have been said to dance…" description: "\"“You couldn’t have been said to dance, exactly. Despite the music sounding around you, bodies being carried away by the whirling bass, it didn’t get in..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4e2/douard-lev-10437_dance_you-couldn-t-have-been-said-to-dance-exa_139392.jpg" --- # You couldn’t have been said to dance, exactly. Despite the… ![“You couldn’t have been said to dance, exactly. Despite the music sounding around you, bodies being carried away by the whirling bass, it didn’t get inside you. You used to trace out the steps, but you were mimicking dancing, rather than doing it. You would dance alone. When a look crossed yours…” quote by Edouard Levé](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4e2/douard-lev-10437_dance_you-couldn-t-have-been-said-to-dance-exa_139392.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4e2/douard-lev-10437_dance_you-couldn-t-have-been-said-to-dance-exa_139392.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4e2/douard-lev-10437_dance_you-couldn-t-have-been-said-to-dance-exa_139392.jpg) > ““You couldn’t have been said to dance, exactly. Despite the music sounding around you, bodies being carried away by the whirling bass, it didn’t get inside you. You used to trace out the steps, but you were mimicking dancing, rather than doing it. You would dance alone. When a look crossed yours, you’d smile like someone caught off guard in an absurd situation.”” [Edouard Levé](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douard-lev/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Describes dancing mechanically, detached from music, feeling absurd when observed, highlighting isolation. **In simple terms:** Dancing alone, feeling absurd when seen. Key Takeaway Seek authentic connection to music. Themes isolation absurdity performance Mood reflective melancholic Type artistic philosophical When to use this quote - dance class - social events - self‑expression Key Concepts embodiment social perception Questions to Reflect On - When do you feel you are merely mimicking? - How can you become more present in movement? A Different Perspective May ignore the value of spontaneous joy. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Dance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dance/) [Music](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/music/) ## Related quotes > [When I dance, I look like I'm a dad at a prom. I never grasped my limbs. Ever since puberty I've just kind of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jennifer-lawrence/when-i-dance-i-look-like-i-m-a-dad-at-a-prom-i-never-grasped-my-limbs/) [Jennifer Lawrence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jennifer-lawrence/) > [Being tall is very good for reaching high shelves and seeing in a crowd. Sadly, it has also given me the inability to dance.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/miranda-hart/being-tall-is-very-good-for-reaching-high-shelves-and-seeing-in-a/) [Miranda Hart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/miranda-hart/) > [When it comes to true dance, it's not about how you look, it's all about the joy you feel.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-levithan/when-it-comes-to-true-dance-it-s-not-about-how-you-look-it-s-all/) [David Levithan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-levithan/) > [You look ridiculous if you dance You look ridiculous if you don't dance So you might as well dance.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gertrude-stein/you-look-ridiculous-if-you-dance-you-look-ridiculous-if-you-don-t/) [Gertrude Stein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gertrude-stein/) > [“Perhaps the highlight was Natalie on top of the table, doing some kind of dance that made her look like an octopus.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kiera-cass/perhaps-the-highlight-was-natalie-on-top-of-the-table-doing-some-kind/) [Kiera Cass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kiera-cass/) > [I never studied dance, but if you look at 'Wild At Heart,' my mother saw that movie and said, 'You are a dancer. Look…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicolas-cage/i-never-studied-dance-but-if-you-look-at-wild-at-heart-my-mother-saw/) [Nicolas Cage](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicolas-cage/) > [When I dance, I look almost identical to Beyonce. And I mean identical. In many ways, when she becomes Sasha Fierce, she's actually just…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-corden/when-i-dance-i-look-almost-identical-to-beyonce-and-i-mean-identical/) [James Corden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-corden/) > [It would be so easy to just throw on a crop top and dance and do and look like all the other stuff that's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/griff/it-would-be-so-easy-to-just-throw-on-a-crop-top-and-dance-and-do-and/) [Griff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/griff/) > [When they see us dance. When they see how you look at me. When they see how I smile at you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philippa-gregory/when-they-see-us-dance-when-they-see-how-you-look-at-me-when-they-see/) [Philippa Gregory](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philippa-gregory/) > [“Come, Darcy," said he, "I must have you dance. I hate to see you standing about by yourself in this stupid manner.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-austen/come-darcy-said-he-i-must-have-you-dance-i-hate-to-see-you-standing/) [Jane Austen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-austen/) > [“Come Darcy,' said he. 'I must have you dance. I hate to see you standing around by yourself in this stupid manner.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-austen/come-darcy-said-he-i-must-have-you-dance-i-hate-to-see-you-standing-2/) [Jane Austen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-austen/) > [You said smile ...I smile you said dance ...I dance you leave me ... I cry and crying till](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tinku-razoria/you-said-smile-i-smile-you-said-dance-i-dance-you-leave-me-i-cry-and/) [Tinku Razoria](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tinku-razoria/) > [“He said, "Dance for me," and he said, "You are too beautiful for the wind To pick at, or the sun to burn." He…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sidney-keyes/he-said-dance-for-me-and-he-said-you-are-too-beautiful-for-the-wind/) Sidney Keyes > [“I'm not a doctor," Butters said. We'd done this dance several times. "You are the Mighty Butters," I said. "You can do anything.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-butcher/i-m-not-a-doctor-butters-said-we-d-done-this-dance-several-times-you/) [Jim Butcher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-butcher/) > [This is your heritage,' he said, as if from this dance we could know about his own childhood, about the flavor and grit of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/justin-torres/this-is-your-heritage-he-said-as-if-from-this-dance-we-could-know/) [Justin Torres](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/justin-torres/) ## More by Edouard Levé > [“Once you confessed to someone that you had been very depressed when dining with her several months earlier. She was stunned, discovering her blindness…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douard-lev/once-you-confessed-to-someone-that-you-had-been-very-depressed-when/) [Édouard Levé](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douard-lev/) > [“Only the living seem incoherent. Death closes the series of events that constitutes their lives. So we resign ourselves to finding a meaning for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douard-lev/only-the-living-seem-incoherent-death-closes-the-series-of-events/) [Édouard Levé](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douard-lev/) > [“I am slow to notice when someone mistreats me, it’s always so surprising: evil is somehow unreal.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douard-lev/i-am-slow-to-notice-when-someone-mistreats-me-it-s-always-so/) [Édouard Levé](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douard-lev/) > [“You directed toward yourself a violence that you did not feel toward others. For them you reserved all your patience and tolerance.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douard-lev/you-directed-toward-yourself-a-violence-that-you-did-not-feel-toward/) [Édouard Levé](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douard-lev/) > [“I have never attended a nudist funeral.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douard-lev/i-have-never-attended-a-nudist-funeral/) [Édouard Levé](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douard-lev/) > [“You didn’t identify with happy people, and in your excessiveness you projected onto those who had failed in everything, or succeeded in nothing.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douard-lev/you-didn-t-identify-with-happy-people-and-in-your-excessiveness-you/) [Édouard Levé](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douard-lev/) > [“I want this epitaph engraved on my tombstone: “See you soon”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douard-lev/i-want-this-epitaph-engraved-on-my-tombstone-see-you-soon/) [Édouard Levé](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douard-lev/) > [“You had felt idle in this city through which you had paced only to kill time. But the emptiness that you believed yourself confronted…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douard-lev/you-had-felt-idle-in-this-city-through-which-you-had-paced-only-to/) [Édouard Levé](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douard-lev/) > [“In their beginnings, events preserve the potential that they lose in their completion. Desire prolongs itself so long as it is not achieved.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douard-lev/in-their-beginnings-events-preserve-the-potential-that-they-lose-in/) [Édouard Levé](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douard-lev/) > [“I wonder whether anyone besides old people like riot police.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douard-lev/i-wonder-whether-anyone-besides-old-people-like-riot-police/) [Édouard Levé](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douard-lev/) > [“You were said to have died of suffering. But there was not as much sadness in you as there is now in those who…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douard-lev/you-were-said-to-have-died-of-suffering-but-there-was-not-as-much/) [Édouard Levé](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douard-lev/) > [“Only once can I say “I’m dying” without telling a lie. The best day of my life may already be behind me.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douard-lev/only-once-can-i-say-i-m-dying-without-telling-a-lie-the-best-day-of/) [Edouard Leve](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douard-lev/) > [“I have never considered sleeping with a nun.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douard-lev/i-have-never-considered-sleeping-with-a-nun/) [Édouard Levé](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douard-lev/) > [“At a public urinal the presence of a neighbor delays my micturition.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douard-lev/at-a-public-urinal-the-presence-of-a-neighbor-delays-my-micturition/) [Édouard Levé](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douard-lev/) > [“When I am coming back from a trip, the best part isn’t going through the airport or getting home, but the taxi ride in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douard-lev/when-i-am-coming-back-from-a-trip-the-best-part-isn-t-going-through/) [Édouard Levé](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douard-lev/) [Explore all 62 Edouard Levé quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douard-lev/) ## More Dance quotes > [When you go to a club it's not about being black or white or heavy or thick. I'm shaking my ass because I want…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/miley-cyrus/when-you-go-to-a-club-it-s-not-about-being-black-or-white-or-heavy-or/) [Miley Cyrus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/miley-cyrus/) > [Sing like no one's listening, love like you've never been hurt, dance like nobody's watching, and live like its heaven on earth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/sing-like-no-one-s-listening-love-like-you-ve-never-been-hurt-dance/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [I make dance music because I love to dance. But I want to think at the same time.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stromae/i-make-dance-music-because-i-love-to-dance-but-i-want-to-think-at-the/) [Stromae](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stromae/) > [I studied all kinds of dance, all types of music. I got good grades. I started hitting the recording studio around 13.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jason-derulo/i-studied-all-kinds-of-dance-all-types-of-music-i-got-good-grades-i/) [Jason Derulo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jason-derulo/) > [I like Sam Smith and Taylor Swift. I love pop music, but I also like Sam Smith's slow songs. That would be more to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maddie-ziegler/i-like-sam-smith-and-taylor-swift-i-love-pop-music-but-i-also-like/) [Maddie Ziegler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maddie-ziegler/) > [I think it's useful to experience other types of dance and other cultures, and the life of a classical dancer these days is certainly…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/deborah-bull/i-think-it-s-useful-to-experience-other-types-of-dance-and-other/) [Deborah Bull](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/deborah-bull/) > [Everything in dancing is style, allusion, the essence of many thoughts and feelings. The abstraction of many moments.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alvin-ailey/everything-in-dancing-is-style-allusion-the-essence-of-many-thoughts/) [Alvin Ailey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alvin-ailey/) > [I worked a lot in Chicago's theater scene as a fight choreographer. And so I do have a lot of experience in stage combat…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nick-offerman/i-worked-a-lot-in-chicago-s-theater-scene-as-a-fight-choreographer/) [Nick Offerman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nick-offerman/) > [“dances with mine as if we’ve been doing this our whole”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/corinne-michaels/dances-with-mine-as-if-we-ve-been-doing-this-our-whole/) [Corinne Michaels](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/corinne-michaels/) > [My body was so instrumental to how I took pictures: it was practically a dance. I used to use my legs a lot; now…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/annie-leibovitz/my-body-was-so-instrumental-to-how-i-took-pictures-it-was-practically/) [Annie Leibovitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/annie-leibovitz/) > [I would rather learn from one bird how to sing than to teach 10,000 stars how not to dance.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-e-cummings/i-would-rather-learn-from-one-bird-how-to-sing-than-to-teach-10-000/) [e. e. cummings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-e-cummings/) > [If you dance, you dance because you have to. Every dancer hurts, you know.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/katherine-dunham/if-you-dance-you-dance-because-you-have-to-every-dancer-hurts-you-know/) [Katherine Dunham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/katherine-dunham/) > [I'm not a dancer. Never took a dance class.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chrishell-stause/i-m-not-a-dancer-never-took-a-dance-class/) [Chrishell Stause](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chrishell-stause/) > [Being fit is the easiest part of being a dance professional. I used to just throw on a backpack full of rocks and run…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anton-du-beke/being-fit-is-the-easiest-part-of-being-a-dance-professional-i-used-to/) [Anton du Beke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anton-du-beke/) > [I'm a horrible dancer, but I wanted to record songs that made me want to dance.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-lane/i-m-a-horrible-dancer-but-i-wanted-to-record-songs-that-made-me-want/) [Chris Lane](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-lane/) [Browse all 9,682 Dance quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dance/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“You couldn’t have been said to dance, exactly. Despite the music sounding around you, bodies being carried away by the whirling bass, it didn’t get inside you. You used to trace out the steps, but you were mimicking dancing, rather than doing it. You would dance alone. When a look crossed yours, you’d smile like someone caught off guard in an absurd situation.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Edouard Levé" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douard-lev/you-couldn-t-have-been-said-to-dance-exactly-despite-the-music/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Dance" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douard-lev/you-couldn-t-have-been-said-to-dance-exactly-despite-the-music/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4e2/douard-lev-10437_dance_you-couldn-t-have-been-said-to-dance-exa_139392.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4e2/douard-lev-10437_dance_you-couldn-t-have-been-said-to-dance-exa_139392.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4e2/douard-lev-10437_dance_you-couldn-t-have-been-said-to-dance-exa_139392.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“You couldn’t have been said to dance, exactly. Despite the music sounding around you, bodies being carried…” — Edouard Levé", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Edouard Levé", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douard-lev/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“You couldn’t have been said to...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douard-lev/you-couldn-t-have-been-said-to-dance-exactly-despite-the-music/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douard-lev/you-couldn-t-have-been-said-to-dance-exactly-despite-the-music/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```