After my recent brush with dodgy characters I was
relieved to see the capoeira lesson won the latest poll with 51% of the vote. (Thanks for all the
well-wishes on facebook and twitter guys.) Next step was to find
someone to teach me. Looking for an authentic capoeira experience I contacted a couchsurfer
called Florencia who said in her profile that she'd
been practicing the art of capoeira for five years. Like so many
people in the CS network, she happily organised for me to join her
for a lesson at 7pm on Wednesday. There were four of us in the
class, two were experienced and two complete beginners plus a
boombox in the corner playing stripped back rhythmic beats.
Capoeira is said to have developed out of the Portugese trade of
African slaves to Brazil during the 16th century. Possibly an
adapted fighting style, hidden behind a hypnotic dance since
fighting or self defense amongst slaves was forbidden. (Capoeira
was illegal in Brazil until the
1930's.)
Our teacher Emanueal was a lithe character whose joints seemed
to be spring-loaded with muscle tension, like a modern day 'jack in
a box'. The first thing that struck me were his eyes, they seemed
impossibly bright with a twinkle that reminded me of Disney's
Aladdin - perhaps a side effect of practicing capoeira for 14
years?
We begun the class with some serious stretching, preparing our
bodies for the squats, kicks and spins to come. The vibe was fun
and informal and Flo mirrored me for, Ginga, the square step that forms the basis of
all movements. She kept checking that I was relaxed and enjoying
myself and encouraged me to give the steps my own twist, like an
interpretive dance.
"Once you learn the steps, they are yours to keep and
use however you please."
We then continue to build on ginga with a round kick, side
squats, a high kick from the hip, a twist spin-kick and finally a
cartwheel. At first I'm tentative but gradually I relax into it,
letting my inner-child escape with playful spins and cartwheels.
Like an aerobics class, the movements you learn are combined into
one final routine/dance at the end. Flo played the tambourine and
we all moved in time with the beat. There were no rights and
wrongs, just your own interpretation and all too soon the 90
minutes were up. As we stretched out I became aware of muscles I
rarely engage and blisters that had appeared on the bottom of my
big toes. I was surprised how capable my body was and felt a buzz
rising from every cell of my body.
Capoeira isn't just a dance disguising a fighting style, it's
playtime disguising an intense workout.
I'm not sure if my eyes were as bright and enlarged as emanuaels
but for the next few hours I felt hyper-aware of everything around
me. This certainly won't be my last class and I'm so grateful that
Flo shared it with me. It is hands down my favourite experience in
Argentina so far.
Has anyone else had any experience with capoeira?