To: LUTSF
Please find
attached my report from my trip to
I want to take the opportunity to thank the
LUTSF again for the award. My trip was truly rewarding in many different ways
and has given me much inspiration for my work in
The youth group has
maintained their enthusiasm and have just performed a dance choreography
at the Hall for
During my time in
Many
thanks.
Yours
sincerely,
Michael Wheeler
Summary
My award
from LUTSF allowed me to travel to
My aims
were:
·
Development
of educational and choreographic ideas for my work with young people in youth
projects and schools
·
Personal
skills development as an artist, teacher and performer and to gain further
insight into a foreign culture
·
To
make contact with Capoeira and/or dance and music groups to discuss the future
possibility of setting up youth exchange projects between
Background
My academic
training is in Fine Art but it was during my degree that I first encountered
the Afro-Brazilian art form of Capoeira. Capoeira is a dynamic fusion of music,
dance, acrobatics, game play and martial art. Its roots are in African tribal
culture but it was first developed on the plantations of
Finally and
most importantly there is an equally complex set of codes and rules of play
that bind the whole event together and prevents the game from slipping into a
non-communicative improvisation on the one hand or at the other extreme becoming
a violent confrontation. Today, Capoeira enjoys worldwide popularity and
recognition due to the work of dedicated Brazilian Masters and their students.
In my work with young people I have found
Capoeira to be very beneficial as an educational tool. It develops confidence,
flexibility, spatial and mental awareness, musical and vocal ability and has
huge potential for self-expression within defined boundaries. It can also help
young people to channel anti-social behavior. As a teacher I have two main remits:
firstly to provide continuation to the work of my Capoeira teachers and the
tradition of Capoeira, presented in specific classes and workshops. This is an
ongoing project in itself.
Secondly, to take some of the elements from
Capoeira and related art forms e.g. Breakdance (which could be seen as a cousin
of Capoeira as it has arisen from similar socio-economic conditions), to create
exciting, collaborative and cross-curricular projects for youth groups,
schools, colleges or for performance.
My time in
During the lectures and forums there was much
discussion of the origins of Capoeira and the regional differences in the art.
A common belief is that Capoeira originated in the N’golo or Zebra dance of
what is now the
This discussion made me reflect on Capoeira’s
newest journey back across the Atlantic and the fact that the descendants of
slaves have traveled back to
I had the opportunity to play some Capoeira
during the event but really the highlight was to see so many of the city’s best
players gathered in one place. A day after the event I received an e-mail from
a friend in Salvador who told me that Mestre Roberval was to travel to Europe
in three weeks. Mestre Roberval was the teacher I was most eager to train with
so I decided to cut short my stay and travel to
I first met
Mestre Roberval a few years ago in
I spent every week day
training with him or his top students. Classes would be spent training
individually on combinations of movements and later working together in pairs
on routines that could eventually be improvised within the game. One of the most
important skills in Capoeira is being able to improvise and link any number of
learnt movements into any combination while remaining closed to an attack.
There are around ten basic movements, which can all be linked fluidly and from
this base thousands of variations of strategic or stylistic subtlety can be
created. We would also often spend some of the sessions learning the rhythms
and songs that are used to accompany the game.
It was fantastic to be submerged in learning
again. It is easy to forget what learning feels like if you are regularly in
the position of teacher. I think it is a very valuable and essential experience
that can really inform teaching practice. I learnt a great deal about Capoeira
during this period and was also exposed to new stretching methods, gymnastic
techniques and new ideas for choreography.
Whilst in
It was clear from my stay in Salvador that
privileged ‘westerners’ are often
getting more access to top quality teachers than a lot of local people. Most of
the teaching spaces are in the center of town- where visiting tourist stay- and
a lot of local people, especially the youth cannot afford the bus fare into
town. Obviously it is not a bad thing for foreigners to seek out these teachers
as an important cultural exchange takes place and also teachers are able to
make a living doing what they do best but it is by no means an ideal situation.
Cosme de Farias is a poor area by Brazilian
standards and there are thousands of kids in areas like these who have the
potential to become incredible dancers, capoeiristas, artists or musicians but
do not have the facilities through which to make that happen. I interviewed one
of the Mestre’s top students who is almost recognized
as a master in his own right, and he frankly stated that his ‘education’
through Capoeira had prevented him from becoming a thief and a killer…
Macambeira also invited me to attend the
‘Candomble de Egums’ that he played drums for. Candomble is an Afro-Brazilian
religion and is perhaps the purest form of African cultural expression in
The Terreiro was about an hour and a half on
the bus from the city centre and was situated in a very poor suburb of the
city. The building was single story and inside half the room contained benches
while the other half was open space with six or seven chairs placed along the
back wall. Each chair was of a different size and style. The benches on the
left were reserved for women only while the right were
for men. The room was painted more or less half white half blue. The ceremony
or ritual started at about 8pm and finished sometime after sunrise the
following day and was punctuated with breaks for food and drink. There were
roughly 40 people in attendance mostly dressed in white clothing. There seemed
to be several phases to the ritual but nearly all parts were accompanied by
very intense ‘toques’ or rhythms played on three atabaques (tall conga-like
drums on stands) and an agogo (cowbell) and were only played by men. The music
was accompanied by beautiful call and response songs, sung mainly in the Yuruba
language (still used in parts of
After this phase the rest of the night was
dominated by the ‘Egums’. The ‘Egums’ are believed to be dead people who return
to the Terreiro for various reasons and appear dressed in faceless full bodied
cloaks, often highly decorated with beads and shells. For the rest of the night
one Egum after another came and went through the door at the far end of the
Terreiro. A different toque was played for each one. There appeared to be the
same number of Egums as chairs along the back wall, some were adult size, some
were more childlike. They shuffled around in the open space in front of the
benches. Some were definitely swaying and dancing to the rhythm while some
appeared to offer advice or to take questions and offerings. They all spoke in
the most extraordinary way- either very high-pitched or in a deep growl. The
Pai de Santo mediated the conversations in Yuruba. One or two of the Egums were
very aggressive and had to be corralled by the leading iniciants who were
standing around beating cane sticks on the floor to keep the Egum from touching
anyone, which is apparently fatal! There was no doubt in my mind that everyone
in the Terreiro believed the Egums to be the spirits of the deceased.
The whole event was utterly fascinating but
beyond my comprehension. What was very apparent however was how important the
religion is to these people and the fabric and values of their community. I
felt very privileged to be there and was treated very kindly.
Michael Wheeler