Wednesday, April 28, 2010

Capoeira

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Last weekend's Earth day festival had something I'd never seen before. There was a group performing capoeira, an Afro-Brazilian martial art and dance discipline. It looks like a combination of taekwando , modern dance and breakdancing. The participants whirl with sweeping kicks and thrusts, bouncing, swirling, doing headstands; lashing out at one another but never making contact. The group and other onlookers form a ring; two people at a time enter to perform the ritual. I cannot call it a contest because there seemed to be no sense of victory or loss. Some of the members play an instrument that looks like a a hunting bow, rubbing its string with a stick. A gourd is attached, probably for resonance. The whole group sings a hypnotic call-and-response chant. It was a fascinating sight.




8 comments:

Olivier said...

c'est un sport que j'adore photographier, cette danse autour de l'autre c'est magnifique. Très beaux portraits, avec une préférence pour le premier

brattcat said...

described beautifully in words and images...this must have been fascinating.

Luis Gomez said...

Bob, great shots!

B SQUARED said...

It's very popular down here. Not surprising given our large Brazilian population.

Anonymous said...

I've seen this before at the Atomic Cowboy. The band was Brazillian and they were performing capoeira with some of their friends during a jam session at the end of their set.

Nathalie H.D. said...

I saw people performing capoeira in parks on Sundays around Paris - absolutely fascinating to watch. Your photos are excellent.

lewi14@gmail.com said...

Beautiful athletic young people. As for sports I hook up with Winston Churchill: No Sports

Unknown said...

Hey, Thats me with the long dreads! I would love to have some of the pics you took on this day. You're an excellent shot.