ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses specifically on Brazzaville, the capital of Afrique Francaise Libre, during World War II. It explores the ways in which colonialism operated through the physical activities of dancing and gymnastics. The chapter describes the significance of leisurely dance, but it is necessary to traverse the complicated landscape of dance and gymnastics as spaces of indoctrination and class politics. Girls danced in pairs in a specific formation, and in the moment that Ellebe caught, their feet and arms were held in a modified fourth position en haut with their feet in releve. The construction of fit Congolese bodies in colonial Brazzaville was about much more than calisthenics and strength training; rather, fitness instruction through dance and gymnastics became a space in which instructors served as entities that could potentially sculpt muscles and minds. The distinction between local creative/cultural dancing and tightly wound, choreographed dances taught and performed for fitness purposes captures the imposed dichotomy of “traditional” vs. “modern.”.
