4capoeirathoughts

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.

I believe his statements and experience can help practitioners to reflect about the actual situation of Capoeira; one in which a forced and forged division of the art into styles and groups prevent the grasp of its whole cultural context.

These posts on Mestre Suassuna’s life were translated (by me) from the chapter “Reynaldo Ramos Suassuna. Mestre Suassuna by himself” in Mestre Deputado’s book “Menino Quem foi teu Mestre?”(2004).

Final Part (IV):

Reynaldo Ramos Suassuna

Mestre Suassuna, by himself!

“My decision of moving to São Paulo”

More then 30 years has passed since I first started to receive proposals in Bahia, to go abroad. The people who attended my performances in Ilhéus, Itabuna wanted to bring me over. But was ‘baiano’, and like every ‘baiano’ from the countryside I was too attached to my mum, so I didn’t accept all those invitations at all.

Some colleagues of mine, raised in the same city, called Wilson and Dequinha lived in São Paulo and they went to see one of my exhibitions in Itabuna and said: “- Boy, why don’t you move to São Paulo? If you open a Capoeira academy there you gonna do well.” I used to say: “- But I don’t like São Paulo…” In that time there was a lot of rivalry between São Paulo and Bahia. The ‘paulistas’ used to poke the ‘baianos’ all the time. It was ‘baiano’ this, ‘baiano’ that, but in a pejorative way, “this is a ‘baianada’ [a bad habit from bahians]”. There was no integration. The ‘cariocas’ on the other hand were more acquainted to ‘baianos’, so I wanted to go to Rio. But they insisted.

When I arrived here [in São Paulo] I couldn’t find them, and I had been invited to stay in their house. I spent two months walking around alone, broken, I wouldn’t even go out. It was an awful situation. Then I wrote my folks at home and they got hold of our relatives in São Paulo so that I could locate them. But until then, it took a while… Then things got a little bit easier to me, but I wasn’t enjoying. I had brought with me 50 good berimbaus, made of biriba, once I thought the whole thing would be already prepared, that I would only need to arrive and everyone would instantly like it. It was a disillusion to me. Whenever one spoke about Capoeira, people would say: “- Ah, Capoeira is bush-wood.” They didn’t even knew what it was. When I tried to perform in schools people laughed at me. So, it was a struggle.

I, then, started working at TELESP [the power company of São Paulo] digging, but I lasted only 15 days. After that I begun selling books, but I was ‘chucro’ [unbroken], didn’t know how to sell a thing; I would go out with heaps of books, walk like a miserable without selling nothing. I would come from Moca, Vila Formosa and walk until Praça da Sé to get the books. Practically starving and walk, walk… I think it was during that time that I developed a gastric ulcer, walking around without selling nothing.

Then I found another job in a button factory – one of those little machines. I use to go out with a iron machine in a bag and walk, walk. Well, if by then I weighted 50 kilos, I lost some and went to 47. I felt dizzy, cried of home-sickness. When I left from Bahia my folks at home said: “- You’re leaving, but in 4 months you’ll be back.” I didn’t want to give them this pleasure, so it was a big struggle.

After a long time I found Wilson and spent a lot of time in his place, eating, drinking… His house was too small for he had many brothers. Finally I found an aunt who lived in Moca – Aunt Alzira and Uncle Didi who took me to their home where I met more people from, more experienced people in São Paulo, they took me to an academy [Capoeira centre], it belonged to Zé de Freitas, in that epoch I met Pinati, Brasília, Joel, and it was when my path begun to smoothen, to clarify.

I did an exhibition, begin to jump, and everyone was totally interested, and that half dozen begun to make things happen. Then, after that, things came happening… I started teaching in the backyard of Pinati’s house, then I opened an academy with Brasília until it could become what it’s today.

It seems that I decided to stay in São Paulo and it’s hard to move away. Sometimes I have a crazy will of moving out this damned place that I love so much. I go out, spend 3 to 4 days out of São Paulo and when I’m getting back I feel like hugging the whole São Paulo. Then I realise how much I like here. This city is my foundation. People who come from other places struggle here. Here is a very ungrateful city too.

I have a desire to go back to Bahia, a desire of quiting Capoeira, sometimes I have a desire of changing career… but this must be the same with all professions. There is too much ingratitude in everything. But at the same time I feel pity, not for quiting the work it demands, but to leave Capoeira. I fear for the future of Capoeira, because us, the elders here in São Paulo, even though people gossip about me, Joel, Brasília, we’re still the source of information for the youngsters here. We’re always showing new things, we’re always changing, always supporting Capoeira. If we stop, how is it’s going to be? There many good people amongst the youngsters, but the elders have a great working experience.

I see it in the following way: I achieved a certain level that a few people had achieved in São Paulo. This level every capoeirista would like to achieve. So, everyone who opens an academy, they do so thinking in doing like this or that academia. They want a renown academy, big, with good students. There is model, a goal. Sometimes they even think in fooling the academy that served them as a model, you know? I think that this is very good, I think there should be more academies getting strong. I feel that with my academy I bring motivation.

However, I don’t have motivation. If there was a really good group around, putting together a work with consciousness, that would be good, that would be a good challenge to me. To see people doing everything right, a confrontation of works, I know I would do the best. I wish there a few, I don’t know how many, maybe 10 groups, doing a work like that, that could make me worried, that could motivate me to catch up, to prepare better my students so that I wouldn’t be left behind… But there are none!”.

Note: The transcript of Mestre Suassuna’s interview in Mestre Deputado’s book ends as it was published here. Mestre Deputado concludes the chapter with some comments on Mestre Suassun’s life.

Reference

Souza, W. (2004) Menino Quem foi Teu Mestre?. Ed. Independente.

Tags: Cordão de Ouro, Mestre Suassuna, suassuna teaching method

This entry was posted on Thursday, December 31st, 2009 at 12:36 pm and is filed under Capoeira Mestres, Philosophy. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.