Learning from Brazilian Culture – TV Clipping – RBI Notícias III

In this third part of the interview about our Institute’s programs and projects at RBI News I ended up commenting on the production of our institutional movie. Pedro Pontes asked whether I think Capoeira is still a culture of resistance; a question that led the discussion towards market influences and acculturation processes in Capoeira.

Another interesting question of Pedro was concerning my approach of styles and if I ‘also’ played Capoeira Angola, and I drifted a bit over Capoeira’s history in order to answer his question. I shared Capoeira’s historical background in different Brazilian states and how Capoeira was developed in Brasília. Rio, São Paulo, Pernambuco… all these states had some ancestral form of Capoeira in their territories. At a certain point in Brazilian history, however, the colonial rule succeeded in extirpating Capoeira from most states, whereas in Bahia it survived.

Whereas in all other states Capoeira’s ritual lacked music, what kept the Arte-Mandinga alive in Bahia was its playfulness and musicality.

As usual comments, questions, and critics are welcomed.
Axé!
Eurico

Transcript RBI News Part 3:
Eurico:
We have this concern that the environment must be a healthy one. But we can never forget that Capoeira is a fight. However, we have to pass this into our daily lives, what is the Capoeira fight in our daily lives? It’s about returning to people an instrument of leisure, joy, health… of social interaction…

Pedro Pontes:
And at the same time [an instrument of] of willingness to succeed!

Eurico:
… (an instrument of) of cultural identity. Undoubtedly, in today’s Brazil, Capoeira is one of the cultural manifestations carrying more ancestry.

Pedro Pontes:
Do you think that Capoeira is still a sign of resistance against inequalities?

Eurico:
You made several observations that are very relevant. Capoeira today is faster, everything today is faster… the music is faster, the traffic is faster, the athletes are faster, everything is faster! It’s a worldwide phenomenon of daily restlessness. Samba, Capoeira, the Forró, our whole culture is being massacred. If you say today that all Samba talks about the reality in favelas (slums), or the Black people’s reality, it’s lie; because we know that we have the ‘good Samba’, and the one it’s being acculturated, massacred. The same thing happens to Capoeira. Unfortunately, we people practising a stronger-against-the-weaker kind of Capoeira, a Capoeira that has lost its philosophical value. Because Capoeira is an intrument of resitance, but it’s an instrument of resistance, like you said, intelligent. We don’t adopt a straightforward strategy, we look for alternative ways.

Pedro Pontes:
Using ginga (the body sway). By the way, we would like to explain what you mean to our viewers screening the images you brought.

Eurico:
Actually we are making a concession to the RBI News Show, with these images… This is the great Mestre Jogo de Dentre

Pedro Pontes:
It’s a child playing with him, isn’t?

Eurico:
Yes, Mestre Pastinha used to say that Capoeira suits, men, children, and women. This was an event we held in which we shot an institutional video carrying the same name of our social project – Learning from Brazilian Culture. A 30 minutes work discussing Capoeira’s potentialities towards education and social inclusion. This images are being edited, so we brought the raw material to share a little bit. I don’t know if the producers of the Show had time to prepare it, but we brought images of our encounters in Sweden, and from our classes in the social project.

Pedro Pontes:
This Roda in which he did a game with the children is Angola? Is it Angola this rhythm?

Eurico:
Yes, this is a great Mestre of Capoeira Angola, Mestre Jogo de Dentro.

Pedro Pontes:
Is that you there?

Eurico:
Yes, that’s me. I have a great admiration for him and for the whole knowledge of Capoeira Angola. I use to say to those who ask “Do you play Capoeira Angola too?” that I don’t play Capoeira Angola, but I learnt a little bit in order to play with my friends.

Pedro Pontes:
Do you practice more Capoeira Regional?

Eurico:
We have a special characteristic in our group which is… There is a great Capoeira Mestre, Mestre Cícero, wearing blue. He has dedicated his last 20 years to the promotion of Capoeira and Brazilian Popular Culture in Campinas. Sorry, what were you asking?

Pedro Pontes:
If you do practice more Capoeira Regional here in Brasília?

Eurico:
We have a characteristic… Brasília follows chiefly the Regional trend, with a strong influence of Rio de Janeiro’s Capoeira.

Pedro Pontes:
Rio de Janeiro has both Angola and Regional, doesn’t?

Eurico:
Rio de fJaneiro, being older than Brasília, allowed the grounding of more manifestations. Capoeira was born in different forms in Brazil. In Rio we had the Pernada Carioca and the matter of the outfits. At the end of the 18th and throughout the 19th century Rio de Janeiro had a special condition – it received an enourmous amount of slaves. There are studies mentioning tha the port of Rio received over 5 million slaves. Hence, creating a propitious environment to the Black culture. In Rio Capoeira developed a combative form, it lacked the playful aspect. For example, what characterised Capoeira there? First, the cabeçadas (head-butts), rasteiras (sweeps), some blows, and some social codes would characterise the Capoeira individual. Therefore, this was how Capoeira happened in Rio. In the northeast, for example, in Pernambuco, it was a little “dissolved” in the Frevo, Frevo has some things to it…

Pedro Pontes:
It took a dimension of a dance, it’s not that aggressive, is that right?

Eurico:
Frevo had a very strong outfit character to it. People who danced Frevo entered in mortal combats, their umbrella, by the way, was used as a weapon. So Frevo had a characteristic common to the Bahian Capoeira; the disguise. And the Bahian Capoeira had this thing of developing the playfulness, merriment… The brincadeira (mock around) implying that it was a hobby.

[Part 3 ends here].

Related 4CT articles:
- Learning from Brazilian Culture – TV Clipping – RBI Notícias II;
- Learning from Brazilian Culture – TV Clipping – RBI Notícias I;
- Project Learning From Brazilian Culture: Brief History, Profile and Guidelines;
- Constructional Elements of our School’s Political and Pedagogic Project;
- Capoeira and Global Trends.

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