Tuesday November 10, 2009
Spicy Brazilian treat
THE Esplanade in Action programme in George Town enjoyed one of its largest ever turnouts on Saturday night as several hundred people gathered at the promenade to witness a high-flying Brazilian martial art and dance performance of the capoeira.
Held as part of a three-day Brazilian Capoeira Festival, the show saw around 40 capoeiristas from the Grupo Senzala Penang and Escola De Capoeira Kuala Lumpur mesmerising the crowd with their fluid acrobatics, feints, sweeps and kicks.
Melvin Lee, one of Grupo Senzala’s managers, explained that the art form traced its origins back to 16th century Brazil, when slaves mainly from present-day Angola were brought in en masse by the colonising Portuguese.
“Toiling on the fields, it was a hard life for them. For relaxation, they played traditional music, danced and engaged in physical games. Some martial arts moves were incorporated and eventually, it all evolved into capoeira,” Lee said.
Two Capoeiristas doing a flip before the crowd at the Esplanade as part of the Brazilian Capoeira Festival. He said the art form wasn’t at first appreciated by the slaves’ Portuguese masters, who were worried about injury and possible rebellion. It was subsequently outlawed in the early 20th century, with severe repercussions for those caught practising it.
“By the 1920s, it had gained acceptance and has since become the national sport of Brazil,” he said, adding that each practitioner’s objective was to try to outmanoeuvre his or her opponent.
In capoeira, participants form a circle, also known as a roda, and take turns either clapping, singing, ritually sparring in pairs at the centre of the circle, or playing musical instruments like the berimbau (bow-like stringed percussion instrument), pandeiros (tambourines), agogo (double gong bell) and atabaque (conga-like drum).
“Samba is associated with Brazilian soccer but it is an integral aspect of capoeira as well,” Lee added.
After the performance, the samba atmosphere carried on at the QE2 Restaurant at Tanjung City Marina where a Brazilian Night Party was held.
For more information about capoeira, visit http://capoeirapg.blogspot.com.
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