CAPOEIRA, a Brazilian trad. sport being a fusion
of wrestling, music, dance, rhythm, acrobatics and ritual.
It is particularly popular around Bahia. Players are referred
to as capoirista and the dance/fight is performed within
a circle called roda. Capoeira first spread as a form
of rural and street fight, often between rival gangs,
the main goal of which was to use deceptive techniques
such as mock escape or mock fall in order to deal an unexpected
blow. The richness of ducking and attacking movements,
combined with the natural agility of the practitioner,
produced dramatic visual effects, developed esthetically
when capoeira became a regular sporting activity. The
turning point in the development of the sport was the
addition of rhythmical drumming and later dance during
Brazilian folk holidays. The basic sound effect is that
of an atabaque (a trad. oval--shaped African drum) and
also berimbau (a one--string, bow-shaped instrument, with
an empty, dry gourd attached to one end to give resonance).
Other instruments include: pandeiro - a kind of tambourine;
reco-reco - a piece of dry and hollow bamboo, which produces
a sound by having its surface scratched with a stick;
agogo - bells. A capoeira show begins with a solo played
on berimbau, during which two opponents begin a bodily
display. Gradually, other instruments join in, the effect
of which is a heavily syncopated rhythm. |
It is now possible to see people in parks and streets
practising capoeira in a way resembling certain Asian
practices.
Etymology and linguistic heritage. The
name capoeira is a Port. form of a word borrowed from
the language of Brazilian Indians, in which it described
a small partridge, whose male is very jealous and engages
in fierce fights with his rivals. The movements it makes
are like those of fighting slaves, which could have been
first observed during the times, when escaped slaves formed
independent mountain and jungle territories called quilombos,
where they met the Indians. The oldest record of the word
capoeira to describe a fight is from 1770.
History. Capoeira derives from a hand-to-hand
combat and games imported to Brazil by Afr. slaves in
the 17th cent. The main areas of slave trade were the
harbors of Bahia, Recife, and Rio de Janeiro. In its earliest
form capoeira was known here as >CAPOEIRA ANGOLA, even
though different varieties were brought not only from
Angola, but also other regions of W Africa, even Bantu.
The oldest froms of capoeira developed in senzalas or
slave settlements located near sugar cane and tobacco
plantations. Within a century the number of slaves in
Brazil grew to approx. 1 million. A growing number of
escapes led to the establishment of many mocambos - communities
of escaped slaves living in quilombos, |
Hand-to-hand combat was used in ambushes and in a difficult
terrain. At the same time a folk culture including music
and dance developed dynamically in the region. The overlap
of these activities produced the rapid development of
capoeira. Festivities following a successful raid over
the white slave owners brought about constantly richer
musical and dance forms connected with capoeira. After
a series of slave revolts and the abolition of slavery
in 1868 the escaped slaves mingled into the slum areas
of Brazilian towns. As those areas grew, capoeira became
a method of street fight used extensively by slum gangs.
At the end of the 19th cent. capoeira was regarded as
dangerous and was banned by the Brazilian criminal code.
Another law was soon introduced allowing the authorities
to pursue those practicing capoeira and, in extreme
cases, banish them from the country. The official ban
and preventive measures led by a famous officer of the
Brazilian police, Sampaio, drastically limited the public
scope of capoeira during the 1920s. A musical trace
of police actions against the capoeiristas can be found
in the elements of rhythm played on the drums: the accelerated
aviso warned against an approaching policeman, while
cavalaria signalled a police squad approaching to eliminate
capoeira in the region. In order to carry out their
actions effectively, the police learned capoeira techniques.
Despite police actions and the ban on capoeira in Salvador,
the first schools of capoeira were established by the
now legendary masters – Mestre Pastinha and Bimba. Bimba
formed a new style called Capoeira Regional, in contrast
to the trad. Capoeira Angola. He was also successful
in convincing the local authorities of the significance
of capoeira to Brazilian culture. In 1937 Bimba was
invited by the Brazilian President to conduct a public
demonstration of capoeira. Having gained official support,
Bimba estab. a school of capoeira, which initiated a
new stage in its development, marked by the spread of
capoeira clubs and the introduction of capoeira into
schools and universities. The sport is now a strongly
supported element of Brazilian folk tradition.
|
| The players wear white uniforms - baggy
pants and loose T-shirts, often decorated with color strings
(usually gold) and embroidered. The fight proper begins
with the sign of the cross made by both opponents. In
rhythmical, circular movements they approach one another
and deliver blows by both their hands and legs, at the
same time trying to avoid the blows of the opponent. A
characteristic kick is called rabo de arraia - stingray’s
tail; it is delivered when the player turns his back on
his oppoent to mock his escape and at the same time thrusts
his leg backwards to kick the deceived opponent. The introduction
of music turned capoeira from a street fight into a skill
bordering on a martial art and dance. |
settlements
concealed in the mountains or in the jungle, where methods
of hand-to-hand combat were practiced. The largest of
them was Palmares, established by 40 slaves who escaped
from Recife and with the help of the Indians reached an
otherwise inaccessible mountain region, from where they
conducted guerilla warfare (called jungle wars) against
the white slave owners. At the peak of its development
Palmares had 20,000 inhabitants, including an Indian minority,
as well as white outcasts. Neither slave hunters nor punitive
expeditions could eliminate such independent territories.
In 1630 the Dutch troops which defeated the Portuguese
unsuccessfully tried to pacify Palmares. . |
