Mestre Angoleiro, by Alice Martins
The first version of this article was written in the 26th of December, 2006 in Brasília, and took chance of an episode with Meste Angoleiro (on the photo), followed with a good chat with him, to discuss some dangers of a traditionalist approach to Capoeira.
After meeting some new friends and bouncing back these ideas, I realised that the issue is as pertinent as ever, so here it goes a revised version as an inaugural posting.
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Capoeira – The Brazilian Peoples’ Wisdom
-“Capoeira is the Brazilian peoples’ wisdom.” This is how Mestre Angoleiro (J. Bamberg), Mestre Bimba’s disciple, tells us how his teacher use to define Capoeira. Today, Mestre Angoleiro feels bothered by the “new traditions” in Capoeira… Quite a fellow!
A while ago arriving at an event, he was presented before starting the roda holding his berimbau viola. The responsible came and said: “- Mestre, here is the gunga for you!” Mestre Angoleiro insisted on playing his own viola and yet another comment followed: “-Here in this group the tradition is that the gungacomands the roda and, since you are the oldest Mestre here, you must play the gunga.” Mestre Angoleiro gingou1 for a while from outside the roda, without playing either instruments or singing any song, patiently waiting until the end of the event, and then thanked everyone before leaving.
It seems that people with more refined thoughts, such as Mestre Angoleiro, attract this sort of situation. The result of their experience in these situations is aways an obvious but insightful reflection that it wasn’t for their comments most people wouldn’t have noticed a thing. Mestre Angoleiro’s comment on the episode was one of these pearls: “-Its only in the minds of these “oligophrenics” that a “thing” (or an object, referring to the berimbau gunga) can be of more importance than a Mestre‘s wisdom”.
This story calls attention to the ‘Capoeira’s re-making of traditions’ as Mestre Angoleiro ironically puts it, or simply ‘invention of traditions’ as it is known amongst Cultural Study scholars. Today, a fairly common phenomenon in both traditionalist Capoeira Angola and Regional. But more specifically, what is it? And how does this actually relate to our practice? Well, it turns out that most of the “[t]raditions which appear or claim to be old are often quite recent in origin and sometimes invented …. “Invented tradition” [means] a set of practices, … of a ritual or symbolic nature which seek to inculcate certain values and norms of behaviour by repetition which automatically implies continuity with a suitable historical past’ (Hobsbawm and Ranger, as cited in Hall et al. Modernity and Its Futures.1992, pp274-295).
How does this relate to our practice is quite simple and it takes only a few questions concerning what this “invented traditions” are underpinning. For instance, “WHAT are these values supporting?”; “WHO wants to inculcate such values in whom and benefits from doing so?”; and also “WHY are these people inventing traditions?”.
Usually, but not always, a traditionalist approach aims to inculcate values of authenticity, of originality by those who claim to be the guardians of specific lineages. The problem lies in a clique of “Mestres” descending usually, but not always again, from Mestre Pastinha’s or Mestre Bimba’s lineage develop a traditionalist discourse aiming to devaluate other schools or lineages. Supposedly, being the few people who witnessed the past generations of capoeiras these few radicals inherited authority to dictate how Capoeira used to be in the mythical past and what is authentic or not according to their testimony.
By inventing traditions and “inculcat[ing] certain values and norms of behaviour by repetition which automatically implies continuity with [their] suitable historical past’”) this clique of “traditionalist mestres” is forging Capoeira’s past according to their agenda. By being so strict and sure of all those rules (rather then rituals) they pass on to their students an idea of truth guardians of the past delivering an “authentic” knowledge, hence, seeking to legitimise their “cultural heritage”.
For me the worse outcome of these practices is the traditionalism – the shifting from the wise, organic and people-centered way things were done in the past by humble and honest Mestres to a set of dogmatic rules benefiting a clique of arrivist traditionalists. Such shift may lead us towards a process in which education and the true meaning of Capoeira – The Brazilian peoples’ wisdom – will be replaced by blind dogmas and fundamentalist identities in Capoeira. That is how traditions and rituals that were meant to keep alive the wisdom and culture of Capoeira people end up bringing a competitive, segregative and oppressive environment into the practice. That’s how students are tamed to develop naïve and group attached identities instead of developing a broader sense of belonging to Capoeira, to Human kind.
As Master Angoleiro would say: “-This is off-the-market’s-shelf capoeira, boy! This is not Capoeira!” In fact, this is an organized movement created by a few “Mestres” to justify their strict behavior in an attempt to inherit a cultural legacy and conquer market.
Those who were, and still are, capable of teaching with simplicity, commitment and devotion, focused on people rather than in dogmas, on the learning-teaching process rather than in mere training are the true Mestres. And I’m sure they’ll prepare their students to do the same. Of course, these folks also have their rituals and methods, each one in their own way, but always with a view on passing on their wisdom and knowledge – Capoeira – to their counterparts.
We can look a few examples of these wise Mestres and how spontaneous their Capoeira was. The late Mestre Iziquiel, Mestre Bimba’s student, led rodas singing his chulas and playing his pandeiro, not singing corridos and plying berimbau as one aware of his background would expect. Today, Mestre João Pequeno, due to his age, leads his roda holding only a baqueta in his hand for what he re-arranged his charanga2.Mestre João Grande adopted white uniforms for his school as opposed to Mestre Pastinha’s tradition of wearing black and yellow in a tribute to his local football team – the Ipiranga. The late Mestre Paulo dos Anjos, even got to promote Batizado parties in his school. All of them are great Mestres, well known and respected, and they all altered their Mestre’s teachings in some way adding some of their own personalities and experience in carrying on with their cultural ancestor’s teachings.
Nonetheless, all them are accounted as true guardians of Capoeira wisdom and knowledge. They took their place within their cultural lineage with great honor and proud. Focusing on passing their legacy with kindness and devotion regardless of false scales of authenticity. Above all, none of them seemed to make dogmas from it, or to teach without reflecting their own experience. People may label their set of conducts as ‘traditions’, but this doesn’t necessarily means that it’s done exactly in the same way as it was done in past times, neither that this is more or less authentic than the way other schools does it.
Throughout years of commitment and dedication, these wise Mestres transfered their inherited culture and lifelong acquired experience to the following generations as an empowering tool against mainstream oppression. Always focusing on and caring about their counterparts, not in using such wonderful inheritance to conquer market or to keep a top-down hierarchy in which only a few “knowledgeable Mestres” decide what Capoeira is all about.
I have no doubt that these wonderful people that made Capoeira a philosophical life practice (and not a career!), would never put their rituals and traditions above education and good manners towards others. Mere training ahead of education. A Mestre’s wisdom by a set of invented traditions or an object (even if it’s a sacred one like the berimbau for is for some). Before any ritual or tradition, we must uphold the ancient wisdom, the philosophical fundamentals, with its egalitarian and kind values.
We must beware that to a great extent Capoeira world is suffering rapid changes. We must ask ourselves who’s benefiting more from this changes? And whenever these changes are not for the sake of all capoeiras, for the sake of diversity and inter-cultural learning, we must stand against it!
Knowledge in Capoeira must also bear wisdom (purpose) to serve all, must free the oppressed ones, and above everything else serve solidarity! As Mestre Cláudio Danadinho, Professor in Architecture and one of the founders of the Senzala Group would say: “-Capoeira is a method that prepares one for live, a path to universal happiness”.
1A deceptive way of swaying one’s body meanwhile preparing strikes and managing strategies. Broadly, within Brazilian culture one with a good ginga (body sway), is one with cleverness, creativity and spontaneity in dealing with dangerous and/or awkward situations.
The first version of this article was written in the 26th of December, 2006 in Brasília, and took chance of an episode with Meste Angoleiro (on the photo), followed with a good chat with him, to discuss some dangers of a traditionalist approach to Capoeira.
After meeting some new friends and bouncing back these ideas, I realised that the issue is as pertinent as ever, so here it goes a revised version as an inaugural posting.
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