Escape strategy, ????now an art form

What do I call it? Dance? Fight? Game? I'm still not sure. I was at a capoeira (cop-o-ai-ra) performance recently, and I was deeply mesmerised by the art form that defies any known labels. Yes, it is popularly known as an Afro-Brazilian martial art. It was a fine combination of acrobatics, music and dance. The grace, agility and the speed of movement of the practitioners was simply mind-boggling.

My interest in the art form prompted my host, Gabriela, to relate its history, which was equally awe-inspiring.

The story goes back to 16th century Brazil, to the beginnings of Brazil's slave trade, when the Portuguese colonists brought slaves from Angola to build their economy. As always, slaves suffered inhumane treatment at the hands of the colonisers, and developed a physical tactic, which later came to be known as capoeira, for their survival. Especially the slaves who managed to escape from the clutches of their colonisers. They comprised not just Angolans, but also Brazilian natives and Europeans. Such slaves got together and began settlements known as quilombos in places that were difficult for the colonial agents to reach.

It is in these multi-ethnic settlements that capoeira took the form of a martial art, a defence strategy the escaped slaves developed to deal with the Portuguese colonial troops.

Once slavery ended, former slaves found themselves with no means of livelihood as the locals refused to employ them, considering them to be lazy. With nothing to show as skill other than capoeira, they took up employment as hitmen and bodyguards with the local crime lords. Frustrated by the use of capoeira for criminal activities, the colonial government in Rio banned its practice in the entire country.
By the 1920s, however, the clampdown on capoeira was almost lifted. Many dedicated practitioners seized the opportunity and worked tirelessly to integrate capoeira into mainstream Brazilian culture.

According to Gabriela, the credit for bringing capoeira out of the shadows and legitimising it should mainly go to Mestre Bimba, who refined the art form and developed a training style that made it popular. His efforts bore fruit when in 1937, capoeira was recognised as the national sport of Brazil.

Today, not only is it considered a form of physical and spiritual empowerment, but is also much sought after in different parts of the world.

The two main styles of this art form are Capoeira Regional and Capoeira Angola, and a combination of both is known as Capoeira Contemporary. The performance I watched was Capoeira Contemporary, happening in a circle known as roda.

As two capoeiristas were engaged in a physical dialogue in the centre of the roda, an orchestra with Brazilian musical instruments played at the head of the circle. As the songs were in Portuguese, I couldn't follow the lyrics, but was told that they were about the art form's history and the struggle of its legendary practitioners to make it acceptable.

And, capoeira is quite popular in our dear old Bengaluru, too.