Dancing for God or the Devil: Pentecostal Discourse on Popular Dance in Kinshasa

Abstract

This article studies the dance poetics and politics of Christians in contemporary Kinshasa. For Kinois (inhabitants of Kinshasa), dance is one of the most important technologies to get in touch with an invisible Other, the divine or the occult. In sermons, and other modes of instruction, spiritual leaders inform their followers about the morality of songs and dances. These discourses reflect pentecostal thought, and trace back the purity of specific body movements to the choreography's source of inspiration. As the specific movements of so-called sacred dances borrow from a wide array of cultural worlds, ranging from traditional ritual dances and popular urban dance to biblical tales, the religious leaders state that not just the body movements, but also the space where people dance and the accompanying songs, define the Christian or pagan identity of the dancer. Therefore, both the reflections upon dance movements and the dance events within these churches will be discussed as moments in the construction of a Christian community.

Double-mouthed discourse: Interpreting, framing, and participant roles1

“…The atmosphere is always cheerful, filled with very loud music to stimulate the congregation, with dancing and clapping, and with collective and individual prayers breaking in the air. (See Pype 2006 on the poetic of dancing in Pentecostal Churches in Kinshasa. )…”

Dancing to the rhythm of Léopoldville: nostalgia, urban critique and generational difference in Kinshasa’s TV music shows

“…Pentecostal Christianity, another important symbolic world in contemporary Kinshasa that gives meaning to private and public experiences, targets the village, and in particular the elderly in such spaces. Because of their alleged attachments to 'traditional' practices, beliefs, and dances, the elderly are imagined as being closer to the Devil, these churches' anti-hero, (Pype 2006). Tradition, the elderly, and the village constitute a demonic triangle within the Pentecostal imagination.…”

“…The ndombolo as a dance invention dates from the mid-1990s. This dance form became extremely popular in Congo and neighbouring countries, to the extent that the ndombolo even arrived in church (Pype 2006). The same dance, however, met with state resistance in several African countries and has been heavily criticized by church leaders.…”

Regrounding the sacred: transnational religion, place making and the politics of diaspora among the Congolese in London and Atlanta

“…However, while for members of églises de réveil, dancing is a devotional act and an individual and collective performance that embodies the presence of the Holy Spirit (Pype 2006), Kimbanguists claim that, as 'spiritual soldiers' they do not 'dance' but 'march for God' to the sound of their brass band, which, like the Kimbanguist choirs, plays divinely-inspired hymns (Garbin 2012). However, while for members of églises de réveil, dancing is a devotional act and an individual and collective performance that embodies the presence of the Holy Spirit (Pype 2006), Kimbanguists claim that, as 'spiritual soldiers' they do not 'dance' but 'march for God' to the sound of their brass band, which, like the Kimbanguist choirs, plays divinely-inspired hymns (Garbin 2012).…”