Capoeira is popular in a lot of places in the world, and one of the main elements that Brazil is known for, besides their soccer, the beautiful Amazon rainforest, and vibrant culture. However, it has not always been this way. Capoeira developed among enslaved Africans who were brought to the country of Brazil and worked on sugar plantations owned by the wealthy, white Portuguese colonists. It was a way for the enslaved to practice fighting back without the plantation owners realizing. The self-defense and strategies that are designed to teach how to win a fight when one is outnumbered by being faster and one step ahead of the opponent, getting them to use the most energy and trick them into a vulnerable position that makes it easier for you to give a critical hit. All of this is paired with music and designed fluidly to disguise it as a dance. Slaves that fought back against their captors and escaped their plantations fled to Quilombos, or villages of escaped slaves.
This continued largely without any interference on a national or legislative level until May 1888 when slavery was declared to have ended. At this point, the government had much less control over the previously enslaved population and feared that the freed people would organize a rebellion, and fight against the oppressors with the same methods that had shown success in the past: capoeira. Because of this, the government banned the practice or performance of capoeira entirely. As the dance had been created, taught, spread, and used almost entirely in secret for so long under the very noses of the same oppression that was now actively trying to eradicate it, it is unclear how effectively the Brazilian government thought that they could catch them. Capoeira groups continued to meet in secret, using only nicknames when they met to avoid leaving any traces that could lead back to them and their real identities should one of them be caught. They eased capoeira into society by again presenting it as a folk dance, which was not altogether untrue. At this point, capoeira could certainly be considered a cultural tradition and part of the experience of being a black person and former slave in Brazil. Capoeira was de-criminalized in the early 1930’s, but it was not until 1936 when capoeiristas, or practicers of capoeira, were invited to fight and perform in front of the then-President.
The word capoeira refers to a “short grass” found at the edges of the plantations where the slaves would practice under the guise of traditional dance. Another element of the dance-fighting is the “ginga”, or swaying motion. This refers to the state of constant movement that the capoeiristas are in while in the “roda”, or the fighting or performance stage. Along the edges of the roda, there gathers onlookers, other dancers or fighters, and the musicians that set the beat or play the musical accompaniment. Types of instruments typically used are called the berimbau, an interesting string and percussion instrument, pandeiro, or tambourine, and atabaque, a special type of drum.
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