London, my home, is the epitome of cosmopolitanism. A busy hive of people from different places, cultures and politics where they are meeting, conversing, trading and combining ideas, traditions and technologies. This integration is often productive and harmonious but sometimes, just sometimes, utterly devastating.
Capoeira is a fusion of musical styles and art forms. The quintessential Afro-Brazilian tradition is a street opera of music, song, dance and martial arts. Feigning the kicks and punches of combat, two participants move within a circle of musicians and onlookers. With slow, acrobatic movements, they flow gracefully, giving time for their fake blows to be avoided and countered by their dancing opponent. Leg sweeps trigger hand-stands. Graceful high kicks cause the other to duck and pass under their opponent’s hovering leg. All the while the musicians play a pulsing rhythm and sing repeated call-and-response verses while playing drums, rasps, maracas and the berimbau (a bow-like instrument in loose tuning).
The high performance of capoeira, encompassing many complimentary art forms, has a solid foundation in the simplicity of its music. Allowing ease of participation, in any given performance, dancers can become musicians and vice versa, moving informally from the ring of fighters to the row of musicians and picking up an instrument. The music is simple and repetitive. The Portuguese song lyrics, with occasional slang of West African origin, belie the origins of the game. The simple music does not allow much scope for virtuosity – that is left to the dancers.
And there was no shortage of flamboyance in a display of capoeira I witnessed recently on my cycle home from work through Stockwell in South London. Outside the underground station a group of capoeira performers had gathered for a roda (capoeira performance) to commemorate the fatal shooting of Brazilian Jean Charles De Menezes five years ago on the 21st of July, 2005.
The day after his death Jean Charles was declared innocent. He had not been linked to the militant Islamist network that the London Metropolitan Police were monitoring that fateful day (only two weeks after a series of suicide bombings on London busses and tube trains and the day after subsequent attempted bombings). The impressions of warfare by the dancers on the footpath echoed the violent incident their ritual acknowledged. Each dance is a physical dialogue, a mock battle, sometimes placid, sometimes more heated, but with no harmful contact. The greater ‘conversation’ in modern society is not always so pacifistic.
The philosopher Kwame Anthony Appiah has identified cosmopolitanism as a conversation, though not one in which people have to attain consensus. I agree. It would be a shame if we all agreed on everything, and an equal shame if we all looked the same, made the same music and danced the same dance.
Capoeira is a fusion of musical styles and art forms. The quintessential Afro-Brazilian tradition is a street opera of music, song, dance and martial arts. Feigning the kicks and punches of combat, two participants move within a circle of musicians and onlookers. With slow, acrobatic movements, they flow gracefully, giving time for their fake blows to be avoided and countered by their dancing opponent. Leg sweeps trigger hand-stands. Graceful high kicks cause the other to duck and pass under their opponent’s hovering leg. All the while the musicians play a pulsing rhythm and sing repeated call-and-response verses while playing drums, rasps, maracas and the berimbau (a bow-like instrument in loose tuning).
The high performance of capoeira, encompassing many complimentary art forms, has a solid foundation in the simplicity of its music. Allowing ease of participation, in any given performance, dancers can become musicians and vice versa, moving informally from the ring of fighters to the row of musicians and picking up an instrument. The music is simple and repetitive. The Portuguese song lyrics, with occasional slang of West African origin, belie the origins of the game. The simple music does not allow much scope for virtuosity – that is left to the dancers.
And there was no shortage of flamboyance in a display of capoeira I witnessed recently on my cycle home from work through Stockwell in South London. Outside the underground station a group of capoeira performers had gathered for a roda (capoeira performance) to commemorate the fatal shooting of Brazilian Jean Charles De Menezes five years ago on the 21st of July, 2005.
The day after his death Jean Charles was declared innocent. He had not been linked to the militant Islamist network that the London Metropolitan Police were monitoring that fateful day (only two weeks after a series of suicide bombings on London busses and tube trains and the day after subsequent attempted bombings). The impressions of warfare by the dancers on the footpath echoed the violent incident their ritual acknowledged. Each dance is a physical dialogue, a mock battle, sometimes placid, sometimes more heated, but with no harmful contact. The greater ‘conversation’ in modern society is not always so pacifistic.
Capoeira is a mix of many native traditions and its exponents come from many ethnicities; the performance I witnessed at Stockwell station was certainly no exception. The dancers abilities too, were as varied as their nationalities, some being more experienced and adventurous with their movements than others. But occasionally, the capoeira dancers let their concentration slip and an unintended collision of foot and face occurs. In such an instance, the music continues, with the odd wince from the onlookers, the dancers acknowledge the error with smiles and gestures and continue the dance.
The incident of social friction marked by that particular evening’s performance was not quite so forgivable. The physical and intellectual discourse between greater western society and militant Islam includes intentionally violent acts from both parties, and even the reactionary clumsiness that causes unintended deaths, like that of Menezes, and the countless others around the world, are not followed with the same acceptance of apology as that of the amicable capoeiristas.
Capoeira is a poignant art form for the remembrance of the wars of the past, but more significantly it is a beautiful way for people to come together. In this blog, I intend to explore the meetings of many cultures, traditions, musics and individuals as I encounter them. And in each instance I hope to explore the coming together of ideas and the many ways we express them. I also would like to see this blog triggering some dialogue and healthy debate on the topics that arise from my posts. Capoeira is a good place to start.
Cosmopolitanism and capoeira as discourse are explored respectively in the following texts:
Cosmopolitanism: Ethics in a World of Strangers, Kwame Anthony Appiah, 2006
Ring of liberation: deceptive discourse in Brazilian capoeira, John Lowell Lewis, University of Chicago Press, 1992
Both books will hopefully make you feel very good about the world and being human. The latter is available for free through Google Books.
The incident of social friction marked by that particular evening’s performance was not quite so forgivable. The physical and intellectual discourse between greater western society and militant Islam includes intentionally violent acts from both parties, and even the reactionary clumsiness that causes unintended deaths, like that of Menezes, and the countless others around the world, are not followed with the same acceptance of apology as that of the amicable capoeiristas.
Capoeira is a poignant art form for the remembrance of the wars of the past, but more significantly it is a beautiful way for people to come together. In this blog, I intend to explore the meetings of many cultures, traditions, musics and individuals as I encounter them. And in each instance I hope to explore the coming together of ideas and the many ways we express them. I also would like to see this blog triggering some dialogue and healthy debate on the topics that arise from my posts. Capoeira is a good place to start.
Cosmopolitanism and capoeira as discourse are explored respectively in the following texts:
Cosmopolitanism: Ethics in a World of Strangers, Kwame Anthony Appiah, 2006
Ring of liberation: deceptive discourse in Brazilian capoeira, John Lowell Lewis, University of Chicago Press, 1992
Both books will hopefully make you feel very good about the world and being human. The latter is available for free through Google Books.
A fascinating read. I will certainly be following your observations. Thank you for sharing them with us.
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