ABADA Capoeira Cultural Arts Center

Although it appeared to be a harmless dance, the dancers or "Capoeiristas" were practicing deadly fighting techniques. That need to be disguised, and the trickery are part of what separates Capoeira from other martial arts. A lot of the kicks and some movements done in Capoeira can be seen in other arts, but the difference is the delivery. There are many fakes and deceiving movements in Capoeira. Although a certain movement is done with grace and style, it can be very dangerous. Capoeira is usually done inside a circle of people called a "roda", pronounced HO-DUH. The people in the circle are usually other Capoeiristas waiting to "play", and observers. Player or not you are expected to give energy to the roda by clapping and singing in response to the person "in charge" of the roda. There are several instruments used to make the music in the Capoeira roda. The Agogô (double cowbell), Pandeiro (tambourine), Atabaque (conga type drum), and the Berimbau that is the most important.

Each instrument, when played correctly, contributes to the energy in the roda, but the Berimbau is the commanding instrument. It tells the players inside the roda how to play, fast or slowly, aggressively or pretty with lots of acrobatics. The Berimbau starts and stops the roda, and all the other instruments follow it's rhythm and time.

At first, there was only one "style" of Capoeira - the original style used as a tool and expression of the African slaves far from their homeland. Within this original Capoeira they sought beauty and freedom, movement and dance, and ultimately a weapon to protect themselves from the perils of a life in bondage. When the slaves attained their freedom, Capoeira accompanied them out of slavery and into society at large. Once removed from its cultural origins, Capoeira began to degenerate from a celebration of freedom and liberty into a vicious and bloody form of street fight. The Capoeiristas was no longer revered as a freedom fighter and hero, but rather feared as a ruffian, thug and criminal. It was not long before the authorities declared Capoeira illegal. Just having knowledge of the art became a punishable offense. Due to official oppression, its practice was either forgotten or fell into disuse in most of the Brazilian cities. Capoeira nearly became a lost art.

It was only in its native Bahia that Capoeira kept alive, and it was from here that it would see its rebirth. In the early part of the twentieth century, Capoeira was almost single-handedly rescued by one man: Mestre Bimba. After a group of foreign diplomats were impressed watching a Capoeira demonstration by Bimba and his students, the Brazilian government finally decided to recognize Capoeira as a unique native-born cultural art form deserving of protection.

Opening the first legal Capoeira academy in 1932, Mestre Bimba also sought to make Capoeira more “legitimate”. He developed a new style of Capoeira known as "Regional." This style brought structure and sound teaching methods to the art, but unfortunately downplayed the use of the music and the more playful movements of Capoeira.

Practitioners of the older style of Capoeira, commonly referred to as "Angola" style, felt an essential aspect of the art was being lost as the Regional style spread and flourished under Bimba and his students. To them, Capoeira was losing its roots and connections to the past by over - emphasizing the sport and exercise aspects of the practice. In contrast, they highlighted Capoeira as an art form where the music and playful movements were a key to understanding the true nature and spirit of Capoeira - an expression of a people in a struggle for freedom and self-knowledge.

Maculele is a stick dance, also known as "jogo de bastoes." It is a remnant of a more elaborate and complex warrior dance attributed to the Cucumbis of Angola. Although, there are the ones who strongly believe Maculele was born in Brazilian lands in the state of Bahia as an African cultural expression, it is very difficult to deny that this unique dance does not have its roots in Africa. The traditions of training for battle in the Cucumbis of Angola, recorded by Portuguese, included group dance formations simulating actual combat. Sticks about 12 inches in length symbolized weapons, but these were later replaced by the machetes of sugar cane workers during Brazil's colonial era. The contemporary form of Maculele, features an attacker and an opponent executing a variety of attack and defence maneuvers. These include crossing sticks overhead, or in front of the body as blocking strategies. In recent years in the north east of Brazil, there has been an inclusion of Maculele by local groups as part of public festivals. It is also a component of the annual winter Novena to Our Lady of Purification (patron saint of Santo Amaro) held each February in Bahia.