ABSTRACT
The above proverb is often used to remind people that when they find themselves in a different situation or place, they should also change their comportment to match their circumstances. This proverb captures the shifting nature of the uses and meanings of Kongo embodied practices in the context of the many socio-cultural transformations that defined the colonial period.1 In colonial contexts, embodied practices such as dance were also likely to be altered by the dominating power in much the same way that the economy, social and political structures, language, and ways of dress of indigenous populations were subject to change. Susan Reed notes:
The suppression, prohibition and regulation of indigenous dances under colonial rule is an index of the significance of dance as a site of considerable political and moral anxiety. Colonial administrations often perceived indigenous dance practices as both a political and moral threat to colonial regimes. Local dances were often viewed as excessively erotic, and colonial agents and missionaries encouraged and sometimes enforced the ban or reform of dance practices.2
