Catherine Gilsenan Jun 10, 2010:

David Of course I respect your experience, but I did have both "movement" and "breath" in my answer. It may not be totally literal, but it reflects the smallest detail through the natural, intrinsic flow of breath and movement. Don't you think? I may not have worked with famous people, but I do know what I am talking about.

David Vaughn Jun 9, 2010:

Catherine I am a professional dancer and choreographer, having worked in the US & several European countries with world-famous choreographers such as Nikolais and Cunningham. My companies have received funding from the French Cultural Ministry and from the California Arts Council, among other sources. I also wrote about dance for the Los Angeles Times. I see no reason to lose the image in the original French to make a more cliched English phrase. I suggest directions for translating - the translator must incorporate suggestions into the tissue of their original text and their translation. As I said, and others echoed, the meaning here is "in every detail". I don't see any reason to add movement when the author speaks of breath.

Catherine Gilsenan Jun 9, 2010:

chosen answer David,
You say you specialise in dance, but your translation seems very weird.
I am a dance teacher. To me, a translation should take account of the poetry of movement (see my answer).

David Vaughn May 31, 2010:

Speed No there is no connection with speed. I specialize in dance, translating for half the French National Choreographic Centres.

Martin Briers (asker) May 31, 2010:

Hello. Thanks to you all for your suggestions. To confirm, it is regarding dance. Polyglot - if it really is relating to speed, then I can't think of a very idiomatic way of getting the "breath" bit in. In any case, looking at the suggestions here it seems I may have been wrong in my assumption...

polyglot45 May 31, 2010:

is this theatre or dance ? Not clear from the categories indicated - makes a difference

David Vaughn May 31, 2010:

in the shallowest breath It's dance, both literal and figurative. It simply means "in every detail" (another possible translation)

Callum Walker May 31, 2010:

perhaps? I'm not a native speaker of French so I can't look at it from a native psychological perspective, but as I understand it, I half wonder if it may mean something like "effortlessly"... I'm not entirely convinced that "speed" is involved. But given that I am not a native francophone, I may be wrong! If I were forced to translate this, I would suggest 'effortlessly', since it gives the impression that it comes naturally and almost without thought and effort (just like breathing). Obviously, someone who is very talented usually can do things effortlessly and naturally. Just my thoughts on the matter!

EDIT: looking again at it, I may have misunderstood the context. But I'll leave what I wrote in case it is of interest!

polyglot45 May 31, 2010:

why on earth do you want to move so far from the original?
What's wrong with something involving "in every breath" or the like?
That is not how I would actually translate it but why move from breathing to seeing? I'm perplexed