History of Capoeira : Brief Description Of Capoeira From the 16th to the 19th centuries, Portugal shipped slaves into South America from western Africa. The South American country of Brazil was the most common destination for African captives with 42% of all enslaved peoples shipped across the Atlantic. These Africans brought their cultural traditions and religions with them to the New World. There are many different and opposing theories on capoeira’s origins: Some say capoeira already existed in Africa as a courtship dance in Angola used by suitors of young women. Others think it didn’t exist in Africa, it was created in Brazil by the African slaves. We do know that capoeira was practiced by slaves in brazil in sugarcane and coffee plantations and was disguised as a dance in order to appease the masters who recognized that capoeira would be a threat to their power and control on the African slaves. Despite the terrible punishments imposed to all of those who rebelled against slavery, escaping was a constant practice. Runaway’s formed entire communities in the Jungle called quilombos and there too, practiced capoeira. The runways lost his value in the market, and were a costly threat to the Masters. The Capitão do Mato (jungle captains), were specialized in capturing the runaways and bringing them back to their Masters, always with a reward. Heavily armed, they penetrated the jungle and hills looking for his prey, but sometimes the hunters turned to prey themselves and were ambushed by groups of runaway slaves. After slavery was abolished in 1888, the freed people moved to the cities of Brazil and with no employment to be found, many joined or formed criminal gangs. They continued to practice capoeira, and it became associated with anti-government and criminal activities. As a result, capoeira was outlawed in Brazil in 1890. The punishment for practicing it was extreme (practitioners would have the tendons on the backs of their feet cut). Capoeira continued to be practiced, but it moved further underground. Capoeira practitioners (capoeiristas) also adopted apelidos or nicknames to make it more difficult for police to discover their true identities. To this day, when a person is baptized into capoeira at the batizado ceremony, they may be given an apelido. The law that prohibited the practice of capoeira was still effect until 1920, and its practice disguised as a "folk dance." In their hidden places, capoeiristas did their best to keep the tradition alive, and by presenting it as a folk art, they made the practice of capoeira more acceptable to the society. In 1937, Mestre Bimba, one of the most important masters of capoeira, received an invitation from the president to demonstrate his art in the capital. After a successful performance he went back to his home state and with the government's permission, opened the first capoeira school in Brazil. It was the first step towards a more open development, and years later the senate passed a bill establishing capoeira as a national sport. Today, capoeira is practiced all over the world including here in Tucson AZ under Mestre Acordeon of United Capoeira Association in Berkeley Ca. a direct descendent of Mestre Bimba. For more information about UCA visit our links. |
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