Jogo Aberto, our school’s next event, will be held from the 7th to the 14th of March at Fingal Head, NSW, Australia. The programme is packed with talks, discussions, documentary screening, and of course heaps of good classes and Rodas. Everyone is welcome! From new beginers to advanced students and teachers.
Politicking is a power and money-driven practice of a few, which causes the withdrawal of many devoted students and young instructors in Capoeira. Conversely, politics can be a way to engage and take action against politicking and other unhealthy practices within the art. A way of re-organising Capoeira towards more noble values and purposes within our communities. Freire’s argument for a libertarian process of education helps demystify the discussion of a ‘neutral’ versus a politicised approach to the art.
“I have had enough of Capoeira politics!” In 20 years of practising Capoeira, I have lost count of how many nice, talented and devoted-to-the-art friends I have seen leave Capoeira for this reason. In my view they gave up because of politicking not politics; an important distinction.
This is the last post in which I will be discussing my thoughts on Fundamentalism and Capoeira based on an experience I had trying to cooperate with another group/style to collect data for my research.
Matters of authenticity are very often related to aesthetic values, socio-centrism, and market reserve. The concept is usually applied attempting to validate or to quantify one’s perspective or practice over somebody else’s. It is also frequently based upon myths of purism; an ironic approach for an interdisciplinary and intercutural practice like Capoeira.
Fundamentalism is a worldwide phenomenon today and it affects the practice of both styles of Capoeira. The following posts were written based on an experience I had both as practitioner and as a researcher trying to work with inter-style and inter-group cooperation in a event a while ago.
This is the final post on Mestre Suassuna’s biography, in it he covers his decision of moving to São Paulo, his difficulties as an interstate migrant and harsh times endeavouring to establish the practice of Capoeira in the South-east of Brazil.
Continuing the posts on Mestre Suassuna’s biography, in this third post he shares more of trips to Salvador and the cultural context of that time. He also shares his experience with the beginning of the folkloric groups, Capoeira Angola and Regional, and why he believes Mestres Pastinha and Bimba surpassed the others. (more…)
This is the second post of the series on Mestre Suassuna’s life. It approaches his first trips to Salvador, contacts with other Mestres, and early take on Capoeira teaching in Itabuna. (more…)
This post on Mestre Suassuna’s life is a translation (made by me) from the chapter “Reynaldo Ramos Suassuna. Mestre Suassuna by himself” in Mestre Deputado’s book “Menino Quem foi teu Mestre?”(2004).
Palestinian children from Iraq learn ‘capoeira’ – an Afro-Brazilian art form that combines elements of martial arts, music and dance – at al-Tanf refugee camp in Syria.
By Magda Qandil
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AGhONWz7L-Q] (Caption: In a Sunday afternoon in Rio de Janeiro 30 youngster capoeiras gathered themselves to exchange ideas and they got to the following conclusion: Capoeira is a *Bamba’s thing!)
* – Bamba – Someone adept at verbal and physical dueling; synonym for capoeira expert. (more…)
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Xz9pfxErQE]
(Captions can be turned on using the ‘cc’ option, on the far right arrow – pointing up – bellow the youtube screen)
“We come from the confluence, the cultural shock, the mingling of the Portuguese invader with our native Indians and African natives. We are a syncretic culture a new people who, despite being the off spring of the fusion of different matrices behave as one people not holding on to the past. We are open to the future. (Ribeiro; 1995)”
Mestre Jogo de Dentro singing a Ladainha at his workshop at the Volta Por Cima / Cordão de Ouro Centre in Brasília in 08-2005
Since the 1960s the Day of the Black Consciousness in Brazil is celebrated on the 20th of November. At this day, in 1695, the last leader of the Quilombo dos Palmares – Zumbi, was executed by the slavish establishment.
Photo taken at a 'Domingueira'. Project Learning from Brazilian Culture
After writing about the Volta Por Cima and the Brazil Sweden Cultural Exchange projects I received a few e-mails from people interested in this sort of social initiative in Capoeira. These new contacts made me think about the 4 Capoeira Thoughts proposal.
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The Social Role of Capoeira:
An Invitation to make local sense of a cultural practice in global spreading
If we are to contribute with and bring awareness to the role of Capoeira as an educative and social inclusive practice worldwide, we need to discuss the difficulties, particularities, and outcomes of these actions in local communities. Capoeira was born from attitudes of resistance against oppression and since then has been empowering the underprivileged people. (more…)
Erica, João Grande, Fafá and Joãonete. By Fabrício Ferreira
Very often I am asked “- What is ‘Volta Por Cima’?”. Most people must be thinking I have started a new group or brand. That is not the case. Mestre Suassuna’s work inspired many of my endeavours in Capoeira, including the development of the social project Learning From Brazilian Culture. However, this project’s design reflects much of my personal grasp of Capoeira, and is based on other Mestres’ teachings, scholars and artists as well. Hence, I needed to start an independent institution, and that is how the ‘Volta Por Cima – Capoeira, Education, and Culture’ begun. I chose this name for two reasons. First, because it is a movement that embodies the principles of an elegant and skilful Capoeira so present in Mestre Suassuna’s teachings. Second, because in Brazilian Portuguese the expression ‘dando [doing] a Volta Por Cima’ also means recovering one’s life after being through a very troublesome period. A perfect name for a project designed to promote social inclusion. (more…)
João Grande doing a Volta Por Cima by André Santangelo
This letter was first written on the 17th of September of 2007 in Brasília, a few months before my departure to New Zealand. Despite some achievements, I am still developing the project together with our school’s students. However, I believe it is time to share these thoughts with a larger number of students and friends. Hopefully this letter will inspire some of you to join the ongoing composition of our school’s political and pedagogic guidelines, or at least to share some thoughts with us. (more…)
“My name is Waldemar Rodrigues da Paixão, I was born in 1916, learnt Capoeira from Siri de Mangue, Canário Pardo, Calabi de Periperi… I took 4 years learning, in 40 I was teaching on the Pero Vaz [street from Salvador, Bahia]. Then I kept teaching, now I stopped, I only handicraft my berimbaus.”
(From Paixão, Waldemar da, & Silva, Washington Bruno da, Mestre Waldemar e Mestre Canjiquinha, disco; 1984.)
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Waldemar da Paixão was probably the last Capoeira Mestre teaching informaly. Meanwhile Mestres like Bimba and Pastinha were teaching in academies, he insisted in teaching his apprentices in his roda in the famous ‘Barracão de Waldemar’ (a hut covered with straw), using informal methods. (more…)
Mestre Acordeon, Mestre Cobrinha Mansa e Contra-Mestre Eurico (Sweden 06/2009)
Capoeira and Global Trends
There are some achievements of humanity that I would say have reached a point of no return. Globalization and diversity are two of them. Capoeira, as a driving force for an ever increasing number of multinational practitioners, deeply reflect both phenomenon’s encompassing their potentialities and pitfalls. This post embraces, amongst other things, the inversions caused by the neo-liberalist globalization in our institutions, altering the meaning and social role of our Capoeira groups. (more…)
