Plantando a Capoeira Angola

Sociologia & Antropologia, 2016

Omertaa Journal for Applied Anthropology, 2008

Sergio g. Varela is current phd student at university College london in the department of anthropology. he has done research on street theatre performed by clowns and mimes in Mexico City and currently working for his phd project on the study of power, symbolism and play in Capoeira angola in Bahia, Brazil. his areas of interest are mainly anthropology of ritual, performance and religion. a B S t r a C t this paper describes the form in which capoeira angola practitioners perceive the concept of "the past" as a category that involves a peculiar way of conceiving temporality. Capoeira angola players assume themselves as preserving a direct connection with what they call african origins and with slavery in Brazil, mainly expressed through narratives and performance. in this way, Capoeira angola is conceived as a practice that extols and recreates "the past", and negates the future. therefore, practitioners seem to reject the notions of coexistence in time between themselves and other subjects where a shared present is constantly denied. however, innovation and change exist and capoeira practitioners stay in an instable environment where their appeal to tradition is constantly challenged by the social transformation occurring in the city of Bahia.

The goal of my research is to help clarify the history of the Afro-Brazilian culture of Caopeira -this being definitive of the African diaspora during the colonial period -with an emphasis on the significance of dances, rituals and other cultural idioms in Brazil. Through analysing the Afro-Brazilian cultural practice of Capoeira and comparing it in aesthetic, kinethetic, and practical context to African, European, and Native American traditions, we can at least marginally reconstruct the cultural evolution of colonial South America and its place in the larger context of the Euro-African diaspora.

Thesis theme: The Embodiment of an Afro-Brazilian identity through the practice of Capoeira in Lisbon (Portugal) Key words: Embodiment, performance, language, Afro-Brazilianness, recognition of difference Main Research Question: How do the bodily and linguistic practices of capoeira contribute to the embodiment of an Afro-Brazilian identity among capoeiristas and Brazilian mestres/instructors in Lisbon, Portugal? A finding during the fieldwork, which was a cornerstone for this research, lead the main object, to distinguish the Brazilians who were mainly teaching capoeira, and their students, capoeiristas from different countries, who were learning it in Portugal. Therefore, the object of this research is the capoeira groups in Lisbon who are part of the embodiment of an Afro-Brazilian identity in the city through different aspects Aim: The main aim of this research is understanding the dimensions of the embodiment of an Afro-Brazilian identity through the body, performance, language and representations with a connection to the practice of capoeira. In addition to that, the contribution of this embodiment for a better understanding of the self and other has been argued. In order to reach to this general aim, main arguments are structured around the bodily and linguistic dimensions. Objectives: In order to reach the general aim of this research, I set my objectives as;  Understanding how capoeira becomes part of a body both individually and collectively to embody an Afro-Brazilian identity through the practice of this dance/martial art.  Exploring the ways capoeristas and Mestres index "Afro-Brazilianness" through their use of Brazilian Portuguese in Lisbon.  Analysing the representation of Afro-Brazilianness through the shared experience of capoeira in Lisbon (Portugal) and partly in Belo Horizonte (Brazil), as well as its contribution to the group identity.  Understanding the ‘us (self) / them (other)’ dichotomy through recognition of difference which raises awareness and contributes to a better understanding of the Afro-Brazilianness embedded into capoeira. Methodology: The main part of the fieldwork was conducted in Lisbon, Portugal for two months after the four months of a pilot fieldwork in Belo Horizonte, Brazil. Empirical data has been collected through participation to capoeira trainings and rodas in both countries as well as ten semistructured interviews which were conducted with mainly Brazilian capoeiristas. Daily spontaneous conversations and the field notes were part of the ethnographic data collected in the field. In addition to the visits to two civil society and five Capoeira organisations, participation in two seminars and a conference in Lisbon about Brazilians and discrimination against migrants are part of the empirical approach I reflected. Conclusion: Analysis on the contribution of bodily and linguistic aspects of capoeira, through the concept of embodiment (Csordas 1994), language (Bakhtin 1986) (Hymes 2003) and the recognition of difference (Meijl 2008) allowed me to structure my arguments theoretically. Briefly, the body memory supports the embodiment of an Afro-Brazilian identity as the capoeirista remembers, imagines and participates in the practice as a whole body; both individually and collectively with the group. On the other hand, the language, Brazilian Portuguese, which is deeply anchored into capoeira contributes to this embodiment by the motivation of its practitioners to learn, adapt or even identify themselves with it. The us/them dichotomy formed by the concept of belonging to a group finalizes the theoretical approach as the recognition of difference I argue, creates a strong background for a better understanding of the other, in this case Afro-Brazilianness, which also allows a possibility on a future research. The ethnographic data collected, supports these arguments not only by the problems Brazilians encounter or the dialect capoeiristas interact with, but also through the representation of the Afro-Brazilian identity through the practitioners and Brazilian mestres/instructors in Lisbon.

Via Atlântica, 1999

This article examines the key themes and cultural meanings of 'classic' capoeira lyrics, e.g. prior to the 1960s. First published in: David Treece, Nancy Naro, Roger Sansi (eds.) The Portuguese Black Atlantic, London: Palgrave Macmillan, pp. 199-217. (ISBN-13:978-0-230-60047-8; ISBN-10:0-23--60047-6)

African and Black Diaspora: An International Journal, 2012

Revista de Educação Popular, 2020

No presente artigo, trazemos reflexões a respeito de uma Educação Popular em Saúde baseada em uma pedagogia ancestral e amorosa, que dialoga com os princípios libertadores da Capoeira Angola. Ressaltamos a importância de uma educação popular em saúde que resgate, nos saberes ancestrais, os valores para uma educação que proporcione a descolonização dos corpos e mentes e a emancipação dos sujeitos e coletividades. Reconhecemos na cosmovisão das filosofias africanas e dos povos tradicionais afro-indígenas-brasileiros os direcionamentos para trilhar o caminho para uma educação popular autêntica que contribua para promover saúde e a cura dos diversos adoecimentos causados pelas estruturas de poder opressoras como o racismo, machismo, desigualdades de classe e LGBTfobia. Trata-se de um artigo teórico-vivencial que parte tanto das diferentes perspectivas de estudiosos e mestres populares como da experiência com o trabalho na Associação Universidade da Reconstrução Ancestral Amorosa (UNIRAA...

Etnografica

Martial Arts Studies, 2023

This article provides a re-examination of the main Afrocentric narrative of capoeira origins, the engolo or ‘Zebra Dance’, in light of historical primary sources and new ethnographic evidence gathered during fieldwork in south-west Angola. By examining engolo’s bodily techniques, its socio-historical context and cultural meanings, the piece emphasises its insertion into a pastoral lifestyle and highlights the relatively narrow ethnic character of the practice in Angola. This analysis and the comparison with capoeira helps us to develop certain hypotheses about the formation, migration, and re-invention of diasporic combat games between southern Angola and coastal Brazil, and more broadly, to increase our understanding of how African cultures spread across the southern Atlantic.

Antropolitica - Revista Contemporanea de Antropologia, 2020

Neste trabalho, busco pensar estética e politicamente a performance do chão afrobrasileiro nos ensaios e desfiles da escola de samba Acadêmicos do Salgueiro na cidade do Rio de Janeiro, a partir da cultura material, principalmente das camisas e fantasias dos componentes. O chão da escola corresponde à comunidade do Salgueiro, ou seja, um grande grupo de corpos, que se subdividem nas diversas alas que compõem a agremiação da escola e são responsáveis por seu assentamento. A comunidade é formada pelos três casais de mestre-sala e porta-bandeira, pelas alas das baianas, da Velha Guarda, dos(as) passistas, da bateria e dos compositores, além das alas que contam o enredo da escola, dos/as componentes das alegorias, e, ainda, da equipe do carro de som, composta por instrumentistas, intérpretes e diretores de harmonia. Assim, partindo de uma observação participante e dançante e da utilização de entrevista semiestruturada, o objetivo é refletir sobre a comunidade que faz o carnaval na sua d...

Many rural black communities in Brazil are currently petitioning for legal recognition as descendant communities of fugitive slaves (quilombos) under a provision in the 1988 Constitution of Brazil. In this article, I analyze the elaboration and transformation of a family story into a narrative about slavery in one such recognized quilombo. I then further analyze the narrative's transformation into a play performed regularly by adolescent members of the quilombo. Because quilombo identity took shape in tandem with changes in the story, elements of the narrative have become crucial to the production of new bases for self-identification, solidarity, and conflict. At the same time, those transformations have been guided by, and continue to be associated with, practices, beliefs, and worldviews about race, color, ethnicity, and religion that were salient prior to the invocation of the constitutional provision. In addition to illustrating how law can be instrumental in transforming local cultural practices and self-understandings, the story told in this article adds to reexaminations of community as an invocation of positive associations tied to an assumed communal past. [Brazil, law, race, identity, narrative, cultural performance] A fter more than two decades of military rule in Brazil, a new democratic constitution was enacted in 1988 that included a one-sentence provision granting land rights to "descendants of runaway slave communities," known as "quilombos." About five years later, the Brazilian government began recognizing some rural black communities as quilombos, and five years after that, it issued land titles to a handful of those communities. Mocambo, a small village on the banks of the São Francisco River in the semiarid backlands of the Brazilian Northeast, and the site of my research, was one of the quilombo communities that received such title. 1 Motivated by new legal rights, access to land, and the possibility of improvements in their standard of living, residents of Mocambo had embarked on a campaign in 1993 to gain quilombo recognition (achieved in 1997), even though it would mean identification with a much-derided category associated with oppression and slavery-"negro." Since then, the residents of Mocambo have experienced a cascade of changes in their lives, relationships, and self-conceptions. At the same time, those transformations have been guided by, and continue to be associated with, practices, beliefs, and worldviews about race, color, ethnicity, and religion that were salient prior to the invocation of the "quilombo clause" and that remain embedded in newly configured narratives.

2015

This book presents a complete analysis, a facsimile, and a semi-diplomatic edition of the first known Angolan language grammar, entitled Arte da Lingua de Angola, oeferecida [sic] a Virgem Senhora N[ossa] do Rosario, Mãy, e Senhora dos mesmos Pretos [Grammar of the Language of Angola, Offered to our Virgin Mother of the Rosary, and Lady of the Same Negroes] (Lisbon, 1697), written by Pedro Dias, S.J. (1621/22–1700).

Luso-Brazilian Review, 2022

ENGLISH. Capoeira is a combat game developed by enslaved Africans and Brazilian-born Blacks on the streets and squares of port cities in late colonial Brazil. From the 1930s onwards, modernized styles such as Regional and Angola developed, which moved practice to the closed spaces of schools ("academies"). This paper looks at the re-emergence of street performances (rodas) in Rio de Janeiro, in particular those of the "Rio Street Roda Connection" (2012-2016), amid the urban renovation of the central areas for the mega-events of 2014 and 2016. Some of these street rodas take place on locations that are highly significant for the history of slavery, such as the Valongo Wharf. The article discusses to what extent playing capoeira can be understood as a re-enactment of the history of slavery, and how the street rodas and accompanying events contribute to the memorialization of slavery and the resistance of the enslaved. It also analyzes to what extent disputes over identity, ownership and urban territories contributed to the break-up of the Connection. PORTUGUÊS. Capoeira é um jogo de combate desenvolvido por africanos e crioulos escravizados nas ruas e praças de cidades portuárias brasileiras no final da época colonial. A partir de 1930, estilos modernizados conhecidos como Regional e Angola apareceram, que mudaram a prática para o espaço fechado das “academias.” Esse artigo examina a reaparição e crescimento de rodas na rua no âmbito da “Conexão Carioca” (2012-17), na época da renovação urbana de áreas centrais do Rio para os megaeventos de 2014 e 2016. Algumas dessas rodas acontecem em locais altamente simbólicos para a história da escravidão, como o Cais do Valongo. O artigo discute até que ponto jogar capoeira pode ser entendido como uma encenação da história da escravidão, e como as rodas de rua e eventos associados podem contribuir para a memorialização da escravidão e da resistência dos escravizados. Também analisa em que medida controvérsias em torno da “apropriação” da capoeira, identidades e territórios urbanos contribuiram para o fim da Conexão.