Here we are at 2018!!! And I’m going to start off this brand new year by… showing you this 3 year old video.
I posted this video because about a year before the video was made, I took on the challenge that the great griot proposed, and I am now much better off for it.
But that was 4 years ago.
Below, I’ve posted this video about more current events, and what we, as individuals can do to help make the world around us a better place.
So, guess what’s going on Today in the Capoeira world!
I’ll be here, and I hope to see you guys here too.
Very short post here, I just wanted to show you this video I found on gentrification (redevelopment) in Brazil & the hidden history of millions of enslaved Africans in Brazil & ritual done in the ancestor’s memory.
It was a fun and beautiful experience. Hopefully with this roda and others like it, we can help grow and heal any problems we may have as Angoleiros, and as Capoeiristas here in L.A., and beyond.
Here’s this month’s group photo:
Now this is the second moth we had this roda. I promise you, as soon as I figure out how to get pictures and videos from my phone to my computer, I’ll post some videos and Pics from the 1st roda.
Now like I said, the roda was beautiful, there was lots of good energy, and it was great to see Charles’s mom come and visit. She had never got to see Charles play in a roda before. I wonder how she liked it…
And the Roda was also eye-opening. You see, this was the first time I got to play the main berimbau, the GUNGA, in the Roda. And it opened me to a whole new perspective. It’s easy to play capoeira in FRONT of the Gunga, but when you’re BEHIND it, you’re no longer just a participant of the game, you’re IN CHARGE of it. You have to hold the base rhythm, you have to keep the energy up, you have to watch the players and the spectators to make sure things are peaceful and positive… and you have to know when to stop the game when things start getting ugly. For example…
(Note: I read in a capoeira discussion that this fight wasn’t actually real, the capoeiristas involved were friends, and that before this went down, the mestre in charge told the audience what was going to happen)
What I’m trying to tell you is, being behind the Gunga is WAYYYYYYYY different, than playing in front of it.
But all in all, the Roda was Great. I hope that in the future, this Roda will become an institution in the Capoeira Angola Community here in L.A., and that it become known far and wide as a place where all groups can come play Capoeira Angola in joy, and brother/sisterhood.
Let me end this blog with one of my favorite songs, which was actually sung in the Roda last Sunday:
Em Portuguese:
Foi agora que eu cheguei
Mandaram me chamar
Para ver os angoleiros
Pra poder nós vadiarFoi agora que eu cheguei
Mandaram me chamar
Para ver os angoleiros
Pra poder nós vadiarEh, quando eu chego num salão
trato logo de louvar
Pai e Filho e Espirito Santo
Bom Jesus e Mariá
Foi agora que eu cheguei
Mandaram me chamar
Para ver os angoleiros
Pra poder nós vadiar
Oi, meu Senhor me dê licença
o seu salão pra eu vadiar
foi agora que eu cheguei
salve o dono do lugar
Foi agora que eu cheguei
Mandaram me chamar
Para ver os angoleiros
Pra poder nós vadiar
Oi, vim aqui pra vadiar
vim aqui pra vadiar
Capoeira é só de Angola
isso não posso negar
In English:
It was now that I arrived
They sent to call me
To see the Angoleiros
For us to play aroundIt was now that I arrived
They sent to call me
To see the Angoleiros
For us to play aroundEh, when I arrive to a hall
soon I praise
Father, Son and Holy Spirit
Good Jesus and Maria
It was now that I arrived
They sent to call me
To see the Angoleiros
For us to play around
Hi, my Lord will give me leave
your salon is for me to play
I was now arrived
save the owner of the place
It was now that I arrived
They sent to call me
To see the Angoleiros
For us to play around
Hi, I came here to play
come here to play around
Capoeira is only Angola
It’s not for deny
This is something I’ve been thinking about for a while now, and I came to a conclusion.
This blog will be about whatever I WANT it to be about.
O.K., I’m kidding (well, sort of). What this blog will be about is Capoeira Angola of course, but also it will be about the many areas of life that Capoeira Angola has it’s feet in.
In the ABOUT page, I typed that Capoeira has many faces.
It’s a dance, but it’s much more than that.
It’s a deadly martial art, but it’s much more than that.
It’s singing and playing music, but it’s much more than that.
It’s a philosophy, but it’s much more than that
It’s Art, but it’s much more than that.
so, this blog will be revolving around all of Capoeira’s many faces, Dance, music, self-defense, social justice, etc. And no, not everything I post will be about Capoeira Angola. In fact most of it won’t be, at least on the surface. But, they WILL be about the many aspects of Capoeira Angola, and and the many issues surrounding it.
I want to end this post with a capoeira song I first heard just yesterday, and I fell in love with…
Jogo Corpo Fechado 