What is capoeira?

The most general description is ‘Brazilian dance-fight-game’. It is a game, a fight, a dance, a theatre, a physical and mental training, a music school, Brazilian culture and much more. What capoeira will or could be for you depends on yourself. I believe that everybody has their own needs and can find something in capoeira that they like. Some like the music and others like to do bananeiras (handstands). Again another person likes to sing and kick. Of course, there are general aspects of the capoeira game that are taught to everybody. But within these aspects everybody develops in their own specific way. To get a better understanding of capoeira I would like to forward you to: History [hyperlink] and The game; the roda [hyperlink]. In ‘history’ I have summarized a part of Nestor Capoeira’s book ‘The roots of the dance-fight-game’ (2001). It gives insight in how capoeira developed into a dance ánd a fight at the same time. In ‘The game; the roda’ I will give my own vision on the game of capoeira.

The capoeira game; the roda

The capoeira game is played in the roda. Roda means wheel in Portuguese. In Brazil (where they speak Portuguese) people frequently make use of symbolic language. When you think of a wheel you probably see an axle, spokes and a tire. In a capoeira roda the two in the centre form the axle and the people on the outside form the tire. The interaction between them and the music are the spokes. It only functions are a whole; every part is essential. Only in this way the wheel is able to role, role towards the objective of capoeira.

Objective of capoeira:
To create a fun combined play where in all players strengthen their mind and bodies. This is done by musical, physical and non-verbal interaction of the people in the roda.

Being together in a roda; playing music, singing, moving, joking around, getting tired and challenging each other is every time a pleasure as it happens. Each time is a unique experience. Actually, it is hard to describe it into great detail. Despite that I probably could write a hundred pages more about the roda, I would like to end this section with: come to one the classes and experience it yourself! Afterwards, you wíll understand.

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Capoeira music

The leading music instrument in capoeira is the berimbau (made from biriba-wood). It’s a one-stringed instrument with the calabas as resounding device. The berimbau leads the roda and thus the game itself.
There are various toques (rhythms) in capoeira and each toque has a different name (são bento grande de angola, angola, iúna etc.). The rhythm tells the players which game should be played. A practical example could clarify the reasoning behind this. If two friends talk to each other they do this in a specific way. If two business women or scholars have a conversation this happens in yet another context. This also occurs in the capoeira roda. For each toque a different game should be played with their own characteristics. They ask for a specific ‘personality’ which should be demonstrated during the game.

There are three different types of berimbau: the gunga or berra-boi, which has a deep sound; the médio; and the high-pitched viola (violinha). Each berimbau has a specific role. This resembles how the bass, rhythm guitar, and solo guitar function in a rock ’n roll band (the arrangement takes place quite frequently in different parts of Africa, not surprisingly since rock ’n roll comes from Afro-American roots). The berimbaus are played with the caxíxí, vintém and baqueta (see below in the picture).

Viola, medio, gunga Caxíxí, vintém, baqueta

Besides the berimbau, the pandeiro (kind of tambourine), the atabaque (similar to the conga although more primitive), the agôgô (Afro-Brazilian bell) and the rêco-rêco (rasp). They only support the berimbaus and give a constant sound with little variations.

Pandeiro Atabaque

Agôgô Rêco-rêco

The music is lead by the mestre, another teacher or an experienced player. This person plays the gunga. Two other experienced players play the medío and the viola. The rest play the other instruments or, if the rhythm allows it, clap their hands.

Another last essential part of the music in capoeira is the songs that are sung in the roda. Musicas de capoeira could tell about life-experiences, slavery in Brazil, but also about a shoe that flies in the air. What is also common is to sing about legends in capoeira (Rei Zumbi dos Palmares, Besouro Mangangá, Nascimento Grande, Manduca da Praia, Mestre Pastinha, Mestre Bimba and others). It gives a lot of axé (energy; cosmic energy) to the roda. Also music is something that you should experience….so yes, come along and feel the vibe! ;-)

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Batizado – yearly graduation event

The batizado is a yearly capoeira event where the students can earn their next graduation cord. It is also a gathering of capoeira’s, sharing of experiences, stories and a lot of capoeira! The batizado is a celebration of Brazilian culture with a lot of Brazilian swing! In this section upcoming batizado’s from Grupo Engenho will be shown.

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Background of Capoeira

The background of capoeira is rich and dynamic. Nestor Capoeira is a well known in the capoeira player, writer and researcher and has written many beautiful books on the topic, including ‘The Little Capoeira Book’ (1995) en ‘Roots of the Dance-Fight-Game’ (2001). Although there are more ways to get to know about capoeira’s background, I have used the latter book to introduce you to the world of capoeira. At the same time I want to encourage you to find your own sources as well: capoeira mestre’s (master’s) and other teachers, other capoeira books, articles on the internet and of course, the roda’s (the circle of capoeira, where the game is played in) and batizado’s.

Origins

This part comes directly from ‘Roots of the Dance-Fight-Game’ (Nestor Capoeira 2001). It is interesting to start with the notion that even the most prominent capoeia mestres, like Bimba (1900-1974) and Pastinha (1889-1981), have different ideas about capoeira’s roots.

Mestre Bimba: “The negroes were African but capoeira is from Cachoeira, Santo Amaro, and Ilha da Maré (cities Bahia, a province Brazil), camarado (capoeira friend)!”

Mestre Pastinha: “…capoeira came from Africa. The Africans used it to fight.”

Some slaves had the possibility to ‘buy their freedom’ after ten years of labour. Quite often in returning, ex-slaves brought home customs created or assimilated in Brazil. Muniz Sodré (Afro-Brazil expert) concludes: “The ‘beginning’ is Brazilian but the ‘principle’ (the roots, the historicity, and the myth) is African.”

If there are doubts as to the origins, there are even more doubts about the word ‘capoeira’. Several suggestions have been made:

  • ‘Caa-apuam-era’ (Tupi, a native Indian language) – a place where the brush has been cut down.
  • ‘Co-puera’ (Tupi) – old plantation.
  • ‘Caá-puera’ (Guarani, a native Indian language) – new growth of shrubbery on cleared land.

One might find it strange that the name of a dance-fight-game with African roots is said to have a name with Indian roots. This is better understood if we take a look at the sort of racism that exists in Brazil.

After Brazil became independent from Portugal (1822) there was an agreement among those in power. It became quite common and fashionable to delegate one’s darker skin to some Tupi or Guarani ancestor. The majority of the population was left out of this pact:

  • The African descedants who had constructed the country with their work in the plantations and mines
  • The negroes and mulattos who had also been the musicians and sculptors
  • And all black- and brown-skinned people who had always been near and even inside the houses of the powerful, working as servants.

They were all left out of Brazil’s new image, which was ‘constructed’ to be shown abroad. It was as if they did not exist and never existed. It is likely that every family that has been in Brazil for over two hundred years has black, Indian, and white ancestors, regardless of the color of their skin. Thus, is it reasonable to say that the theories about the word ‘capoeira’ could also be part of the ‘leave-out-strategy’ of the powerful.

Definite conclusions about the word ‘capoeira’ can not be drawn, simply because development studies of the Negro have never been done in Brazil. In 1901, in Alfreda’s Bessa’s dictionary ‘A Giria Portuguesa’ (Portuguese slang), ‘capoeira’ was defined as: “a game using hands, feet, and head, practiced by low-level tramps (thieves).”

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The Slavery Period

Our starting point is the period 1810-1830. Although the 300 years prior to this period is important for a complete historical overview, this period gives insight in important changes for the Negro population of Brazil. There was a change strategy in interaction of the Negro population with the powerful people. Furthermore, the year 1900 is also the starting point of the development of capoeira that we see nowadays. In the next paragraph, an answer will be given to the question ‘How did the mixture of dance, music and fight take place? The complete story can be found in Nestor Capoeira (2001).

How did the mixture of dance, music and fight take place?

Until the period of 1810-1830 the combination of dancing and fighting was not known. It was more an expression of the fighting then dancing. This can be concluded from the drawings from two famous artists: the French Debret (1834) en the German Rugendas (1824).

Rugendas: “The negroes have an even more violent warrior’s pastime called ‘capuera’. “Two champions throw themselves, one against the other, trying to hit the chest of the opponent they wish to knock down with their head. They avoid the attack with skilled jumps to the side and sudden stops.”

Debret: drew an old player of the berimbau, adding that “...often one of the slaves, missing his homeland, let out his voice and sang in the public squares and around the fountains.”

“To play capoeira or dance of war’” (Rugendas, 1824)

Acrobats parading in front of an African Burial in Brazil (Debret, 1834)

“Berimbau player” (Debret, 1834)

Where are the kicks? Where are the rasteiras (leg swipes)? The rolling movements on the ground? And the berimbau that is commending the roda? It may be clear that the berimbau Rugendas describes was not yet linked with the fighting aspect.

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Strategy of separation to dominate

Since the beginning of colonisation (1500), until the start of the 19th century the slaves from the same ethnic group were kept separated. In this way, they could not practice their traditional and cultural habits. It would be therefore impossible to think that capoeira could develop the mixing of different elements, due to this ethical separation.

In the early nineteenth century, the white community started to encourage the differences between the boçal (the newly arrived African in Brazil, or those who refused to adapt to Brazilian society), the ladino (the slave adapted to society) and the creoulo (creoles, slaves born in Brazil). The ladino and creoles were favoured with lighter tasks and the change to ascend socially. However, often enough in the black community the boçal was more valued than the ladino or the creoulo, even though these latter would be richer. This was called ‘Africanicity’ (Boçalidade). It was a guarantee that traditional values would be maintained. Because of this, the separation between different tribes in Brazil started to loose its meaning. This enabled the mixing of different fighting techniques and dances that gave origin to capoeira (Nestor Capoeira 2001).

Source: Nestor Capoeira 2001, ‘The Roots of the Dance-Fight-Game’, North Atlantic Books, Berkeley, USA, p. 107-122.