African Folklore: An Encyclopedia - Marshalls University

African Americans 249
sport coats. Around their hips, they wear a mukonzo wrap or skirt, usually navy blue or
black, with a broad, lighter-color stripe near the bottom seam. The cloth is gathered and
drawn together at the waist and overlaps a leather belt, inshipo, that is worn underneath.
Many of the dignitaries have several strings of beads around their necks. Most of the men
also wear calf-length argyle socks, held up with garters. The various dancers are chosen
spontaneously by the Mwata, each rises from his place, kneels before Kazembe, claps
three times, and then moves to the arena. On the way, he must wrest a weapon, either a
sword or an axe, from an attendant. This is done in a stylized manner, with the dancer
grasping the weapon and the attendant resisting once or twice. The dancer then strides
toward the orchestra in time to the music, brandishes the weapon to salute the musicians,
and then turns to begin the Mutomboko. The dance is said to have origins in antiquity,
having been performed after victorious battles and momentous occasions. Although there
are many stylistic variations of the dance, the core consists of moving forward while also
shifting laterally, one step to the left and two to the right, with legs swerving high, then
coming down hard. The same pace is kept when the dancers charge two steps forward,
then one back. The weapons are rhythmically brandished, and at times there is a mime of
attacking an enemy with sword or axe. Most performers maintain a disdainful facial
expression, at once detached and arrogant. All this is danced to the specific Mutomboko
music and beat, as played by Kazembe’s court musicians. The dancers come from a
group of chiefs, headmen, traditional councillors, ritual specialists, and heirs. The heirs
are usually young boys, dressed in a similar manner to the adults, but acknowledged by
the audience in an enthusiastic way that celebrates the youthful promise of the royal
princes. As each dancer performs, members of the audience, depending on the perceived
quality of the dance, rush to press coins or bills into the dancers’ hands or pockets or onto
a cloth laid down on the ground near the dancers. The youngest dancers are especially
recognized in this way. When each dancer finishes, he kneels again before the Mwata,
claps three times, and then takes his seat.
Finally, the Mwata’s bard, of late, the aristocrat Chipolobwe, comes to the microphone
in the covered area where the dignitaries sit and recites several praise epithets, requiring
the audience to respond to each. He then introduces Mwata Kazembe, who slowly strolls
towards the raised dance area. As the crowd cheers wildly, the Mwata moves about in
rhythm to the drumming, then selects both a sword, mpok, and battle axe, mbafi, again
meeting with ceremonial resistance from an attendant. As he moves towards the
orchestra, another attendant called the masumba, who also makes the Mwata’s garments,
holds a two-stranded, red cloth “tail,” which he struggles with in restraining Kazembe
from unleashing his weapons at the nearest onlookers during the Mutomboko
performance. After saluting the orchestra with his weapons, Kazembe then settles into the
most regallooking style of the Mutomboko, drawing loud cheers and muzzle-loader shots
as he moves in, at times, frenzied forms of attack and then settles back into a smoother,
though always threatening, rhythm of dance. It is quite evident that the perception of the
gathered Lunda people is focused on the importance and centrality of the mwata, and the
dance is the focal point of their praises and celebration. After a time, Kazembe finishes
the dance by brandishing the sword, then driving it into the ground. As people swarm
onto the dance area, the mwata returns to the umuselo and is carried once around the
arena before departing to return to his palace. In the evening, there is a feast in the palace
grounds for local and visiting dignitaries.