Contemporary Capoeira in Rio de Janeiro, 1948-1982
Lead Research Organisation:
University of Essex
Department Name: History
Abstract
Capoeira is an Afro-Brazilian martial art that combines singing and percussion with dance, combat and street theatre. Two practitioners play a 'game' within a 'circle' formed by the musicians and other participants. Enslaved Africans and Creoles developed the practice in the port cities of late colonial and imperial Brazil. It survived initial harsh repression until being recognised as a national sport and tradition in the twentieth century. Two competing styles were responsible for its modernisation in the 1930s-50s. They merged during the following decades into the current mainstream 'Contemporary' style, now taught and played around the world. The capoeira circle and the knowledge of capoeira teachers ('masters') were recognised by the Brazilian government as integral to the nation's intangible cultural heritage in 2008, and by UNESCO in 2014.
The project aims to better understand the emergence of this Contemporary Capoeira by gathering material from different sources. It will conduct interviews with 40 surviving capoeira masters from the first and second generations, responsible for the development and expansion of the new, modernised style of capoeira during the 1950s-70s in 'Greater Rio de Janeiro' - which includes not only the city centre, but also its poorer suburbs and its marginalised periphery. The project will also systematically collect further material from local sound, image and newspaper archives to complement and corroborate these testimonies. With the help of some well-known and respected capoeira masters, who will act as project consultants, it will furthermore encourage the local capoeira community to donate materials such as old interviews or photographs. The collected material will be organised and stored in digital format on servers in Essex and Rio de Janeiro, in close collaboration with our project partner, the Laboratory of Oral History and Image at the Federal Fluminense University. The advanced age of the masters to be interviewed, and the absence of a coherent plan to rescue these crucial testimonies for capoeira history in the current political and financial crisis in Rio make this project all the more urgent.
Drawing on my previous experience, I will provide the intellectual leadership needed to bring together capoeira masters and practitioners, academics from various disciplines and digital specialists to deliver a range of accessible outputs, the most important being the creation of a long-lasting and sustainable database on capoeira. This raw material will be made available for registered users via the website, and will significantly facilitate further research by other academics and non-professional capoeira historians. An edited selection of the interviews, and complementary material with explanations will be made available on the website and in a virtual exhibition. Around 40 short clips will present an overview of the social and cultural backgrounds and life stories of these very diverse characters and careers. They will conjure the ambience of historic capoeira circles, and portray a culturally rich but also socially and racially divided city. A digital exhibition hosted by the Afro-Digital Museum will provide an appealing summary of the results for broader audiences, and will help schoolteachers to comply with recent Brazilian legislation that makes the teaching of Afro-Brazilian history compulsory in all secondary schools. Teaching will also be facilitated by an itinerary following the memory sites of capoeira in central Rio and its historical suburbs. This guided tour will be incorporated into a mobile phone app for easier access. A knowledge exchange between staff from the British Library, Essex University and Brazilian partners on data management, making digital history and achieving digital dissemination will help to optimise the project's research and its online accessibility, as well as contributing to the development of skills for the staff involved in a range of areas.
The project aims to better understand the emergence of this Contemporary Capoeira by gathering material from different sources. It will conduct interviews with 40 surviving capoeira masters from the first and second generations, responsible for the development and expansion of the new, modernised style of capoeira during the 1950s-70s in 'Greater Rio de Janeiro' - which includes not only the city centre, but also its poorer suburbs and its marginalised periphery. The project will also systematically collect further material from local sound, image and newspaper archives to complement and corroborate these testimonies. With the help of some well-known and respected capoeira masters, who will act as project consultants, it will furthermore encourage the local capoeira community to donate materials such as old interviews or photographs. The collected material will be organised and stored in digital format on servers in Essex and Rio de Janeiro, in close collaboration with our project partner, the Laboratory of Oral History and Image at the Federal Fluminense University. The advanced age of the masters to be interviewed, and the absence of a coherent plan to rescue these crucial testimonies for capoeira history in the current political and financial crisis in Rio make this project all the more urgent.
Drawing on my previous experience, I will provide the intellectual leadership needed to bring together capoeira masters and practitioners, academics from various disciplines and digital specialists to deliver a range of accessible outputs, the most important being the creation of a long-lasting and sustainable database on capoeira. This raw material will be made available for registered users via the website, and will significantly facilitate further research by other academics and non-professional capoeira historians. An edited selection of the interviews, and complementary material with explanations will be made available on the website and in a virtual exhibition. Around 40 short clips will present an overview of the social and cultural backgrounds and life stories of these very diverse characters and careers. They will conjure the ambience of historic capoeira circles, and portray a culturally rich but also socially and racially divided city. A digital exhibition hosted by the Afro-Digital Museum will provide an appealing summary of the results for broader audiences, and will help schoolteachers to comply with recent Brazilian legislation that makes the teaching of Afro-Brazilian history compulsory in all secondary schools. Teaching will also be facilitated by an itinerary following the memory sites of capoeira in central Rio and its historical suburbs. This guided tour will be incorporated into a mobile phone app for easier access. A knowledge exchange between staff from the British Library, Essex University and Brazilian partners on data management, making digital history and achieving digital dissemination will help to optimise the project's research and its online accessibility, as well as contributing to the development of skills for the staff involved in a range of areas.
Planned Impact
One key aim of this project is to develop innovative ways for research results and academic content to be expressed in formats that are most used by non-academic audiences: webpages, clips, and mobile apps. By using these non-traditional formats creatively - whilst still respecting basic academic rules - the project aims to achieve impact on a wide range of people and groups:
1) The old capoeira masters from Greater Rio de Janeiro and their contribution to the emergence of a new style that became a globalized art form will become better appreciated by policy makers from Rio State and the general public. Hence the project can contribute to more recognition and hopefully a better status for these aging, and frequently destitute mestres.
2) Capoeiristas in Rio de Janeiro and its poorer periphery will obtain easier access to the knowledge and experience of older masters through the website, with its clips and material, and the digital exhibition. This can strengthen their confidence and sense of belonging to a valorised community, and support their applications for community projects and funding.
3) Inhabitants of the city and surrounding state, tourists and other visitors to Rio de Janeiro will be able to get a deeper understanding of the importance of capoeira history in the centre of the city, its suburbs, and its marginalized periphery. Through the app "Present Pasts" for mobile phones, in particular the Capoeira Itinerary (a guided tour), but also the function "Close to Me", they will be able to identify places of memory of capoeira, its links to other cultural forms such as samba and Afro-Brazilian religion, and learn about their significance for the broader social and cultural history of Rio;
4) Secondary schoolteachers will be able to access the materials from app, website and digital exhibition, which will provide them with local and concrete material, parts of which will be specially designed to that end, to fulfil the 2003 and 2007 Brazilian federal laws which makes teaching of African and Afro-Brazilian history compulsory in all primary and secondary schools (at present there is a lack of material);
5) The national and international media will have access to a website, virtual exhibition and app that provides reliable, and concise information regarding the key figures of the capoeira universe in Greater Rio de Janeiro including its poorer periphery, allowing more actors to become visible (at present some groups in the wealthier neighbourhoods get privileged access and most news coverage);
6) Capoeiristas worldwide, and broader international audiences able to read English or Portuguese, will be able to access website, watch the clips and visit the virtual exhibition, and learn more about the complex and dense history of their art, hence deepening their learning of capoeira and their understanding of this unique art form, Afro-Brazilian in its origin, but now a model of globalization from below.
A longer-term impact aim beyond the immediate scope of the project is to engage with (7) policy-makers at municipal and regional level. Media exposure of the project and its links with existing local capoeira and cultural initiatives will hopefully contribute to raise awareness among municipal culture secretaries of the Greater Rio boroughs that capoeiristas, especially in the periphery, can be vectors of culture and education, but need institutional support to fulfil that role. The signposting of relevant memory sites with QR codes, for instance, may encourage these policy-makers to display official memorial plaques on those locations. The project's various pathways to impact will hopefully contribute to capoeira gaining more overall visibility and respectability in Brazilian society, as well as supporting the ongoing process of institutionalisation initiated in 2008.
1) The old capoeira masters from Greater Rio de Janeiro and their contribution to the emergence of a new style that became a globalized art form will become better appreciated by policy makers from Rio State and the general public. Hence the project can contribute to more recognition and hopefully a better status for these aging, and frequently destitute mestres.
2) Capoeiristas in Rio de Janeiro and its poorer periphery will obtain easier access to the knowledge and experience of older masters through the website, with its clips and material, and the digital exhibition. This can strengthen their confidence and sense of belonging to a valorised community, and support their applications for community projects and funding.
3) Inhabitants of the city and surrounding state, tourists and other visitors to Rio de Janeiro will be able to get a deeper understanding of the importance of capoeira history in the centre of the city, its suburbs, and its marginalized periphery. Through the app "Present Pasts" for mobile phones, in particular the Capoeira Itinerary (a guided tour), but also the function "Close to Me", they will be able to identify places of memory of capoeira, its links to other cultural forms such as samba and Afro-Brazilian religion, and learn about their significance for the broader social and cultural history of Rio;
4) Secondary schoolteachers will be able to access the materials from app, website and digital exhibition, which will provide them with local and concrete material, parts of which will be specially designed to that end, to fulfil the 2003 and 2007 Brazilian federal laws which makes teaching of African and Afro-Brazilian history compulsory in all primary and secondary schools (at present there is a lack of material);
5) The national and international media will have access to a website, virtual exhibition and app that provides reliable, and concise information regarding the key figures of the capoeira universe in Greater Rio de Janeiro including its poorer periphery, allowing more actors to become visible (at present some groups in the wealthier neighbourhoods get privileged access and most news coverage);
6) Capoeiristas worldwide, and broader international audiences able to read English or Portuguese, will be able to access website, watch the clips and visit the virtual exhibition, and learn more about the complex and dense history of their art, hence deepening their learning of capoeira and their understanding of this unique art form, Afro-Brazilian in its origin, but now a model of globalization from below.
A longer-term impact aim beyond the immediate scope of the project is to engage with (7) policy-makers at municipal and regional level. Media exposure of the project and its links with existing local capoeira and cultural initiatives will hopefully contribute to raise awareness among municipal culture secretaries of the Greater Rio boroughs that capoeiristas, especially in the periphery, can be vectors of culture and education, but need institutional support to fulfil that role. The signposting of relevant memory sites with QR codes, for instance, may encourage these policy-makers to display official memorial plaques on those locations. The project's various pathways to impact will hopefully contribute to capoeira gaining more overall visibility and respectability in Brazilian society, as well as supporting the ongoing process of institutionalisation initiated in 2008.
Publications
Röhrig Assunção M
(2019)
Ginga na Avenida: a capoeira no carnaval carioca (1954-1976) Ginga in the parade: capoeira in cariocan carnival (1954-1976)
in Revista Nordestina de História do Brasil
Röhrig Assunção M
(2022)
A Roda da Central: a capoeira de rua carioca, décadas de 1950 a 1970
in Revista EntreRios do Programa de Pós-Graduação em Antropologia
Röhrig Assunção M
(2022)
Entrevista com Mestre Camisa
in Revista EntreRios do Programa de Pós-Graduação em Antropologia
Matthias Röhrig Assunção
(2021)
Direitos culturais: múltiplas perspectivas. Vol. V: Impactos da pandemia.
De Brito, C
(2022)
A Capoeira nos Estados Brasileiros, de 1950 até o presente
Assunção M
(2019)
Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Latin American History
Assunção M
(2022)
Street Capoeira and the Memorialization of Slavery in Rio de Janeiro
in Luso-Brazilian Review
Title | Arco do Teles Roda |
Description | This clip documents the history of the oldest square in Rio de Janeiro and how capoeira was associated to it, by using innovative 360 degree technology. It allows viewers to experience the monthly Capoeira Roda in the historical setting of Arco do Teles as if they were there. |
Type Of Art | Film/Video/Animation |
Year Produced | 2019 |
Impact | Viewers - in particular during the website launch in September 2019 - have reported to have experienced an entirely new way to watch a capoeira roda and learn about the history of a location. |
URL | https://vimeo.com/manage/387132083/general |
Title | Central Station Roda (Roda da Central) |
Description | A documentary film about the famous capoeira roda that took place during the four days and nights of Carnival 24 hours non-stop, from the 1950s until 1981, in Rio de Janeiro. The memories of eight older masters document the kinds of rhythms and the tough and often violent games that were played in a volatile context of repression and clientelism. It was here that the bambas or tough guys of this period earned their fame: Mucungê, Inglês, Dois de Ouro, Paraná and many more. Features a game by the iconic Mestre Mário Buscapé, aged 85. Click on CC for English subtitles. |
Type Of Art | Film/Video/Animation |
Year Produced | 2020 |
Impact | There was to date no documentary film or even an newspaper article on this roda, which remains alive in the memory of the people who attended in the 1960s and 1970s. This film rescues its memory for future generations of practitioners. |
URL | http://Vimeo.com/capoeirahistory/rodadacentral |
Title | Conversa com Mestre Mintirinha |
Description | This video is based on Mestre Mintirinha's interview at his Grupo Terra academy, in the neighbourhood of Olaria, Rio de Janeiro, on 20.03.2019. The mestre narrates his journey in capoeira, what he learned from his Mestre Paraná, how he got inspiration from MestreArtur Emídio and created his toque Barravento. It also contains an unpublished scene of a batizado in his academy, in 1973. |
Type Of Art | Film/Video/Animation |
Year Produced | 2022 |
Impact | Since its launch in August 2022, this video has been seen by over 1,200 people (as of Feb 2023) , which bears testimony to the popularity of that master. |
URL | https://youtu.be/nJ9KOS_BPhk |
Title | Conversa com Professor Lamartine da Costa |
Description | This video presents a selection of an interview with Lamartine da Costa, the author of a capoeira instruction handbook, a bestseller in the 1960s. Professor Lamartine, now nearly 90, remembers how he started learning capoeira, and how he elaborated the manual with the help of the famous capoeira mestre Artur Emídio. He also describes some of the impact the book hat at the time. The video was premiered on the project youtube channel on 7 Oct 2022 |
Type Of Art | Film/Video/Animation |
Year Produced | 2022 |
Impact | It has been seen by people interested in history of capoeira and the followers of our channel. |
URL | https://youtu.be/89vzGVqg0LM |
Title | Conversation with Mestre Roque |
Description | Mestre Roque started to learn capoeira in Bahia and arrived in Rio in 1956. Here he started teaching capoeira in a shantytown and became the founder of one of the lineages of capoeira contemporânea in Rio de Janeiro. In this video, M Roque talks about his life and explains some of the basements of his capoeira style. |
Type Of Art | Film/Video/Animation |
Year Produced | 2019 |
Impact | This video has been launched recently. |
URL | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XMFNCgJajvc&t=3s |
Title | Conversation with Mestre Silas |
Description | Mestre Silas, one of the oldest capoeira masters in Rio still in activity, remembers how he came to learn capoeira in the early 1960s and tells the story the capoeira championship that briefly existed in the 1970s. |
Type Of Art | Film/Video/Animation |
Year Produced | 2021 |
Impact | The master, his students and the wider capoeira community in Rio de Janeiro reacted very positively to the release of this video, as not much attention has been given to this veteran capoeirista in other video productions. |
URL | https://youtu.be/ex0p4f7k4MY |
Title | Interview with Mestre Camisa |
Description | This video contains the most relevant passages of an interview made in September 2018 with one of the most famous living capoeira mestres. Mestre Camisa (José Tadeu Carneiro Cardoso) gave a long, nearly four-hour interview at the Centro Educacional Mestre Bimba, a venue in the municipality of Cachoeiras de Macacu, Rio de Janeiro state (RJ), where Mestre Camisa organises workshops and events for the Abadá-Capoeira group he presides. These excerpts focus on the biography of the master, especially on his coming to Rio de Janeiro, the beginning of his career in the city, the capoeira rodas that existed then, and other comments on capoeira that we think are of great relevance to capoeiristas and researchers interested in this crucial phase in the history of capoeira. |
Type Of Art | Film/Video/Animation |
Year Produced | 2022 |
Impact | This has been one of the most popular documentary posted on the project youtube channel, with 6.000 views since its launch in June up to February 2023. |
URL | https://youtu.be/K40GHKVHm54 |
Title | Lavradio Roda (Roda do Lavradio) |
Description | In this video, Mestre CélioGomes relates how he started to train capoeira, how he created his own group Aluandê, and how the Lavradio roda was created. The contramestres Érida and Fagnon also comment on this capoeira street roda happening every Saturday, in the Lavradio Street market, in the Lapa neighbourhood, in Rio de Janeiro. |
Type Of Art | Film/Video/Animation |
Year Produced | 2021 |
Impact | This video helped the group who organise the monthly roda to gain more visibility and respect. |
URL | https://youtu.be/wq7f3S8QihE |
Title | O berimbau de M Paraná |
Description | Mestres Polaco and Paulão explain how the musical bow used by the outstanding musician Mestre Paraná was made and used. |
Type Of Art | Film/Video/Animation |
Year Produced | 2020 |
Impact | This clip was launched 23.4.2020 |
URL | https://youtu.be/-cvvVbzyw2A |
Title | Paraná Versão de Mestre Genaro |
Description | Mestres Polaco and Genaro explain in which circumstances the Cariocan version of the classic song Paraná was composed in the 1960s |
Type Of Art | Film/Video/Animation |
Year Produced | 2020 |
Impact | This clip will be launched in 2.4. 2020. |
URL | https://youtu.be/gZm8QVIqWxI |
Title | Roda of the Old Guard of Capoeira in Rio |
Description | Capoeira Roda with the Old Guard of capoeira masters at the Centre for Popular Culture, Rio de Janeiro, at the launch of the website capoeirahistory.com, 12 September 2019. |
Type Of Art | Film/Video/Animation |
Year Produced | 2022 |
Impact | This clip shows a respectable number of elderly capoeirista singing, playing music and capoeira who are rarely seen together. Mestre Gegê sings the history of capoeira in Rio de Janeiro. |
URL | https://youtu.be/6ZH-Nuuqn6I |
Title | The History of Capoeira in Rio de Janeiro - Launch of Capoeirahistory.com |
Description | Clip made for the launch of the website in September 2019, introducing key themes and the masters involved so far. |
Type Of Art | Film/Video/Animation |
Year Produced | 2019 |
Impact | This clip started to disseminate the website www.capoeirahistory.com. It was widely seen on the youtube capoeira platform beiramar.tv (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XB5t67vZJ78&list=RDCMUCzSZVNXhpR39ewpfusATEHg?t_radio=1&t=24) |
URL | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XB5t67vZJ78&list=RDCMUCzSZVNXhpR39ewpfusATEHg&start_radio=1&t=24 |
Description | 1. Significant achievements from the award. The project team conducted about fifty long interviews with capoeira mestres who learned, practised and taught their art in the period 1948-1984. Aged between 62 and 85, mostly living in suburbs and the distant periphery, they represent the living memory of the first and second generations of practitioners who were responsible for the modernisation of capoeira and the creation of the actual styles known under the umbrella term "contemporary capoeira" (capoeira contemporânea). They also were responsible, to a large extent, for capoeira's subsequent globalisation - as many of the most important groups worldwide today (Senzala, Muzenza, Abadá and others) originated in Rio de Janeiro in this period. The project team has systematically explored public archives, gathering more than 2,000 newspaper articles about capoeira in this period in Rio, as well as photos and video material - although the latter in much more modest quantity. Here research in private collections was in many ways more successful, as many mestres and practitioners allowed us to scan or digitalize relevant material. We have also got hold of a series of radio broadcasts from the 1970s. This material documents that capoeira was important in many aspects of the cultural life of Rio de Janeiro, from carnival to celebrations of patron saints (such as the Nossa Senhora da Penha festival in the suburb of the same name). Capoeira also intersected with a wide range of institutions, from samba schools to the military (Army, Navy) and the police. These findings are being published as academic outputs. The journal article "Ginga na Avenida" (2019), for example, documents and analyses how capoeira started to figure prominently in carnival parades in the 1960s. We also are receiving short articles for our blog from external contributors, many of which are well-known in the capoeira universe or academia. 2. To what extent were the award objectives met? The award objectives were met to a large extent. We carried out all the research objectives - in sometimes difficult circumstances - and succeeded in securing the collaboration of all the old mestres. This required some diplomacy as some of them do not talk to each other because of conflicts that happened decades ago. We also have been engaging with younger practitioners and started to disseminate research results. Some objectives are still in the process of being met, in particular the writing of academic outputs and achieving all the impact aims. Disseminating a website is a gradual process which demands some time. We did also put on hold for the time being the idea of the mapped itinerary for an Android app, and this for two reasons: the current degradation of health and security issues in the city makes it difficult to post signs with QR codes with a reasonable chances that they will not be taken down and we want to further advance in the exploration of the geography of capoeira before transferring this kind of information to an app. |
Exploitation Route | The findings are being taken forward by capoeira practitioners and local historians. The core team is preparing more academic outputs (articles and chapters) and preparing more pages for the bilingual website capoeirahistory.com. These are complemented by monthly external contributions to our blog. The site is acquiring an encyclopaedic character, where visitors can look for specific names of capoeira masters, groups and events (rodas) as well as a number of themes that thematise capoeira's relation to broader society. We believe that findings are already being useful for a wide range of users, from school teachers, students to capoeiristas worldwide. We hope to further increase visibility of the website during 2021-22. |
Sectors | Education,Leisure Activities, including Sports, Recreation and Tourism,Culture, Heritage, Museums and Collections |
URL | http://www.capoeirahistory.com |
Description | Core findings and public outcomes of this research project are made accessible on the website created for that purpose. The website capoeirahistory.com was launched on 12 September 2019 at the Brazilian National Centre for Folklore and Popular Culture (Centro Nacional de Folklore e Cultura Popular) in Rio de Janeiro with the presence of many of the old capoeira guard and project consultants. A poet composed a cordel (a traditional Brazilian genre consisting of a long poem telling the story of a character printed on a leaflet and sold on markets), which was also launched on the occasion and is now available from the website as a pdf. Short clips are one way of reaching out to a wider audience, and our launching clip was already seen by a couple of thousand people, in particular on platforms dedicated to capoeira on youtube such as beiramar.tv. We also created a 360 degrees short documentary film of a street roda (circle) that takes place once a month in the oldest historical square of Rio. This allows viewers around the world to get a real-life experience of the historical settings and the feeling of a capoeira circle (https://vimeo.com/387132083, also available on youtube https://youtu.be/Srw5RUQ3kL8). The project team finished three documentary clips dedicated to famous street rodas of the past (Roda da Central, Roda da Penha) or happening on memory sites of capoeira (Roda do Lavradio in Lapa neighbourhood, Roda organised for launch of website at the Museum of Folklore). Other clips highlighted the contributions of the first generation of mestres (Paraná) or the oldest mestres still alive (Genaro, Roque, Mário Bonfim). This contributed to raise the profile of the site, receiving 4,900 unique visitors in the month of December 2020, and maintaining that level until now (2023). More videos are in the making which will be released during Spring and Summer 2023 on our dedicated channel capoeirahistory on youtube and vimeo and embedded into the relevant pages on the website. The deposit of semi-raw, longer interviews in the repository of the UK Data Archive is being prepared. Although we started relatively recently to publish material on the site, this has already generated considerable interest with the capoeira community in Rio de Janeiro. One indication of this is that present and past practitioners have started offering us materials - from photographs and audio recordings to old LPS and VHS cassettes. A growing number of masters support our initiative, as no other institution seems to be really interested in safeguarding their memory. We have been invited to talk about the project in a number of online live events (see list in engagement activities). In collaboration with local artists and professionals in the UK we are developing new forms of conveying the fascinating history of capoeira to larger audiences. Updates from 2022-23: Despite major restrictions due to COVID, the project team has managed to finish and launch a range of documentary clips, and more are in the making. Two academic articles have also been published in 2022, another one is in the making. The PI also co-edited a special issue on the recent history of capoeira in 8 states of the Federal Republic of Brazil (published in the journal anthropological journal Entrerios) |
First Year Of Impact | 2019 |
Sector | Education,Leisure Activities, including Sports, Recreation and Tourism,Culture, Heritage, Museums and Collections |
Impact Types | Cultural |
Title | Contemporary Capoeira in Rio de Janeiro Database |
Description | This database consists of four sections. I. Interviews with capoeira masters of the first and second generation who practised and taught capoeira in Rio in the 1950s,1960s, 1970s and the early 1980s (until 1984). Interviews are recorded (usually with two cameras and an additional audio recorder) and transcribed. Video and audio files are converted to one format and synced. II. Newspaper articles about capoeira in Rio, 1940s-1984. III. Photographs of capoeira masters, students and events that took place in the period 1948-84, from archival collections or made accessible by individuals. IV. Audios (radio broadcasts, LPs), and videos about capoeira in Rio, 1948-1984. |
Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
Year Produced | 2019 |
Provided To Others? | No |
Impact | The database constitutes the basis for the project outputs: - the information displayed or to be displayed on the project website in the form or texts and images. The website www.capoeirahistory.com was launched in September 2019; - Video clips on Youtube and Vimeo, with links to the website, about the themes of the project (Masters' biographies and their contribution to capoeira, the history of groups, the history of the most famous street rodas (Capoeira circles in the street); - Audio - podcasts - on the site. The first series (completed in February 2020) features programmes from radio broadcast from the 1960s and 1970s, and interview with its creator carried out in Feb 2020; - Academic articles. |
URL | http://www.capoeirahistory.com |
Description | Partnership with LABHOI/UFF |
Organisation | Fluminense Federal University |
Department | Oral History and Image Laboratory |
Country | Brazil |
Sector | Academic/University |
PI Contribution | The research project has organised a digital training workshop in July 2018 which was open not only to project team members but also to researchers and interns at the The Laboratory of Oral History and Image (LABHOI) of the Universidade Federal Fluminense (UFF). The project also allowed two UFF professors and one PhD student to participate in the Knowledge Exchange Programme in October 2018 at Essex University. During 2019 another digital training workshop took place to introduce team members to the use of Wordpress. I'm the co-supervisor of two PhD students working on related research topics. |
Collaborator Contribution | The Laboratory of Oral History and Image (LABHOI) of the Universidade Federal Fluminense (UFF) provides logistic support for the research project "Capoeira Contemporânea". More specifically we stored back-up of the audio-visual material (interviews and documented events) on the LABHOI server. Professors Martha Abreu and Hebe Mattos provide advice and guidance to the project as consultants. The LABHOI intern collaborates with the project, as well as one PhD student. |
Impact | Martha Abreu & Matthias Röhrig Assunção (2018) 'Da cultura popular à cultura negra'. In: Martha Abreu, Eric Brasil, Lívia Monteiro & Giovana Xavier (orgs.), Cultura Negra - Novos desafios para a História e os Historiadores, Niteroi, RJ: EdUFF, 2018. This introductory essay was published at the beginning of each volume: Vol. 1: Festas, carnavais e patrimônios negros; pp. 15-28 (ISBN 978-85-228-1311-7); Vol. 2: Trajetórias e lutas de intelectuais negros; pp. 14-27 (ISBN 978-85-228-1313-1). |
Start Year | 2018 |
Description | "Berimbau called" (Berimbau mandou chamar) |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | Local |
Primary Audience | Postgraduate students |
Results and Impact | This event was organised by the NEPAA - Centre for the Study of Afro-Amerindian Performances (Núcleo de Estudos das Performances Afro-Ameríndias). It consisted of a round-table to explore common themes, issues and methods when dealing with the Afro-Brazilian art form capoeira. It was mainly attended by students from Theatre and Performances studies at UNIRIO University. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
URL | https://www.facebook.com/events/718410981979907/ |
Description | Capoeira and Africa - Radio Sikiliza (UFRJ) |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A broadcast e.g. TV/radio/film/podcast (other than news/press) |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Undergraduate students |
Results and Impact | The programme Sikiliza, from the Radio from the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ) is broadcasted weekly. I was interviewed together with another capoeira researcher to talk about our work. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
URL | https://www.spreaker.com/user/radioufrj/sikiliza-ep-24 |
Description | Capoeira music festival "The Cockerel has Crowed" |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | The "Contemporary Capoeira in Rio de Janeiro" project partnered with Mestre Paulo Kikongo, from Radio Capoeira (Rio de Janeiro), and sponsored a special prize at the "Galo já Cantou" ("The Cockerel has Crowed") festival, for the best new song relating to the history of capoeira in Rio de Janeiro. The festival counted with the participation of veteran Mestre Gegê, author of a famous song on the history of capoeira in Rio. https://capoeirahistory.com/general/the-cockerel-has-crowed-the-history-of-capoeira-in-rio-de-janeiro-in-verse-and-song/ Ten songs were submitted to a jury consisting of five capoeira senior masters and the PI. The winner was chosen among the finalists on 17. April 2021, an event broadcasted life on Radio Capoeira and its various social media channels. The first prize was awarded to Mestre Batata and his group from Lisbon for their song "Rio de Janeiro 1948-88". The second prize went to Mestre Rouxinol from Rotterdam, in the Netherlands. The festival raised awareness of the importance of Rio's contribution to capoeira and contributed to the dissemination of the project website. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
URL | https://capoeirahistory.com/general/festival-galo-ja-cantou-2021-mestre-batata-wins-the-prize-histor... |
Description | Capoeira no Rio de Janeiro, 1948-82. 5th Seminar of the Network Patrimônios afro-ameríndios. UNIRIO, Rio de Janeiro, 8 November 2022. |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Undergraduate students |
Results and Impact | The talk "Capoeira no Rio de Janeiro, 1948-82" was 5th Seminar of the Network Patrimônios afro-ameríndios coordinated by the French IRD (Institut pour la Recherche et le Dévéloppement). It took place at the Department of Scenic Arts, at the UNIRIO University in Rio de Janeiro, 8 November 2022 and was preceded by and integrated with a movement and performance class given by Dr Juliana Manhães. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
URL | https://pt.ird.fr/patrimonios-imateriais-afro-amerindios-e-politicas-publicas-na-america-latina |
Description | Debating Circle: Thinking Society through Capoeira (Conference 8.8.2020) |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A broadcast e.g. TV/radio/film/podcast (other than news/press) |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Postgraduate students |
Results and Impact | This Debating Circle: Thinking Society through Capoeira (I Roda de Debates:Pensando a Sociedade através da Capoeira) was a Conference with a dozen or so panels of 3-4 specialists organised by two scholars, Celso de Brito and Ricardo Nascimento, from two Federal Brazilian Universities (UFPI & UFC) 8.8.2020) which reunited a good selection of mainly Brazilian capoeira researchers. I took part on 8.8.2020 in the debate about capoeira development in the individual states of Brazil. the live session was attended b y 150 people online, and later viewed by more than 500. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2020 |
URL | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8-MXe0ClCOI&feature=youtu.be |
Description | Genalogies of Capoeira |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | National |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | The panel "Genealogies of capoeira in Rio de Janeiro" was part of the broader seminar "Long live tradition: Our knowledges come from afar" ("Viva Tradicão Viva: Nossos saberes vêm de longe") that focussed on capoeira, racism and the training of teachers. It was collectively organized by the Departamento de Lutas da Escola de Educação Física e Desportos da Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, with the following partners: Museu Vivo do São Bento, Museu Afro-digital da UERJ, Rádio Capoeira, Universidade da Capoeira, Revista Íbamò, Acervo Cultural de Capoeira Arthur Emídio de Oliveira, Capoeira Nômade Acervo Digital, Editora da UFBA, IFRJ - Instituto Federal de Educação, Ciência e Tecnologia (PROEX e COEX/CDuC), coletivo "Professores contra o Escola Sem Partido", Portal Capoeira, and Grupo de Capoeira Só Angola (GCASA). |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
URL | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JqGL6TgfTMk |
Description | Historians in Quarentine (Historiadores em Quarentena) (22.04.2020) |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A broadcast e.g. TV/radio/film/podcast (other than news/press) |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Postgraduate students |
Results and Impact | This talk was part of a series of Facebook and youtube "lives" organised by a group of mainly Brazilian historians that call themselves "HIstorians in Quarantine". 35 people attended live, the interview was viewed by 200 people after the event. https://www.facebook.com/historiaemquarentena |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2020 |
URL | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0YPJECPoI8s |
Description | Historiography of Capoeira |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | The panel "Historiography of Capoeira" was part of the broader seminar "Long live tradition: Our knowledges come from afar" ("Viva Tradicão Viva: Nossos saberes vêm de longe") that focussed on capoeira, racism and the training of teachers. It was collectively organized by the Departamento de Lutas da Escola de Educação Física e Desportos da Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, with the following partners: Museu Vivo do São Bento, Museu Afro-digital da UERJ, Rádio Capoeira, Universidade da Capoeira, Revista Íbamò, Acervo Cultural de Capoeira Arthur Emídio de Oliveira, Capoeira Nômade Acervo Digital, Editora da UFBA, IFRJ - Instituto Federal de Educação, Ciência e Tecnologia (PROEX e COEX/CDuC), coletivo "Professores contra o Escola Sem Partido", Portal Capoeira, and Grupo de Capoeira Só Angola (GCASA). |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
URL | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iVcoiV8bu9Y |
Description | History of Capoeira, Interview by M Ferradura (14.5.2020) |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A broadcast e.g. TV/radio/film/podcast (other than news/press) |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | This interview was conducted by M Ferradura, a well-known capoeira teacher and director of an online capoeira education programme. The interview was broadcasted life on streamyard/facebook and attended live by 350 people. The interview was later viewed by over 2,000 people, and more than 200 left comments on the page. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2020 |
URL | https://www.facebook.com/omriferra/videos/3465626466799745 |
Description | Histórias da capoeira no Rio de Janeiro (Radio Capoeira)(11.07.2020) |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A broadcast e.g. TV/radio/film/podcast (other than news/press) |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | National |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | Interview by Paulão Kikongo, from Rádio Capoeira, Rio de Janeiro. Part of a series of interviews on capoeira history broadcasted live by Radio Capoeira on Facebook and youtube simultaneously. More than 100 people commented in the live chat on Facebook. Youtube: @radiocapoeira FB: @radiocapoeiraoficial https://www.facebook.com/radiocapoeiraoficial/videos/3255712124480966 |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2020 |
URL | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H-0Zq_oiRSw |
Description | IX Cultural Rights Conference (UFC) 8.10.2020 |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | The IX Conference of Cultural Rights was organised by the Federal University of Ceará (UFC) in Fortaleza. I participated in a round-table with 6 other specialists/scholars. The panel had over 600 views, I don't know how many attended online. It was an excellent platform to publicise our research and website. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2020 |
URL | https://youtu.be/Mf1AW9VykVs |
Description | Interview in programme "Na identidade do capoeira" (17.10.2020) |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A broadcast e.g. TV/radio/film/podcast (other than news/press) |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | The organizers, M Dhunga, CM Fly from Rio Grande do Sul, started this series of interviews of one experienced practitioner or researcher shortly before the pandemic. It then became quite popular during the pandemic. They have interviewed more than 150 people over the last year. It was streamed online on Facebook and Youtube simultaneously. https://www.facebook.com/watch/live/?v=804364373646523&ref=watch_permalink |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2020 |
URL | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iu9i-TxlXwA |
Description | Semana de História PUC/SP |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Undergraduate students |
Results and Impact | "Cultural celebrations and festivities: Reflections about Brazilian Reality" consisted of a conversation with Rosana Almeida, from the "Instituto Brincante", which researches and promoves Brazilian popular culture (https://www.institutobrincante.org.br). |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
URL | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UFXw7ljcZhY |
Description | Stepping in our history (Nos passos de nossa história) (19.9.2020) |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A broadcast e.g. TV/radio/film/podcast (other than news/press) |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | National |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | Maria Eugenia Tita is a professional dancer from the Instituto Brincantes (São Paulo). During the pandemic she organised a series called "stepping our History" (Nos passos de nossa história") where she interviews professional dancers, artists, writers and intellectuals. this is preceded by a short dance performance that relates to the topic. For the session: Popular culture, one concept, various histories" she interviewed my colleague and project partner Martha Abreu from Universidade Federal Fluminense and myself. 40 people attended life, over 300 saw it afterwards. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2020 |
URL | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TyCvr3R5Kxo |
Description | Talk at the event Camerá Capoeira, organised by Capoeiragens Associação Brasileira, 15 October 2022, Brusque, Santa Catarina |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | Over 70 people, in their majority capoeira masters and practitioners, but also from some other martial arts attended this three-day event Camerá Capoeira, of the Capoeiragens Associação Brasileira, 14-16 October 2022. The event combined talks and discussions with capoeira rodas (performance) and took place at two venues, the Fundação Cultural Brusque, and the Arena, both in Brusque, Santa Catarina, Brazil. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
URL | https://www.facebook.com/camara.capoeira.1/posts/pfbid0w5rEpWMjCmm6ViQUaNRDQVSqhu9BcTa7pb7scAEhmLHUi... |
Description | The Sources of Capoeira History. Open seminar, São Luís, Brazil, 6 to 8 December 2022 |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | The Sources of Capoeira History was an seminar open to the general public sponsored by the Federal University of Maranhão (UFMA), and counted 37 inscriptions who attended during three eveneings. It took place at the Casa do Tambor de Crioula, São Luís, 6-8.12.2022. The audience was constituted by capoeira masters and practitioners. This is a new format I am developing to teach History of capoeira to lay capoeira practitioners to help them develop critical and analytical skills when dealing with the history of their art. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
URL | https://www.instagram.com/p/Cl9s5lOLivG/?igshid=MDJmNzVkMjY%3D |
Description | Website Launch at National Centre for Folklore and Popular Culture |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | Regional |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | The launch of the website at the Brazilian National Centre for Folklore and Popular Culture showed the first results of the research project to a wider audience. The event was preceded by a closed meeting of the project consultants. The launch started with a presentation of the main sections of the website by the project team. Then the poet Lobisomem made a special performance of his cordel poem "As valentias de Madame Satã" (The adventures of Madame Satan), which thematises the life of a famous capoeira practitioner who died in 1976. Madame Satan became famous for his repeated confrontation with policemen who never accepted that a queer could also be a "tough guy". (The booklet is also available from the website). This was followed by a traditional capoeira roda, with the participation of half a dozen of well-known capoeira masters of the Old Guard who are involved in the project. These performances were filmed and will result in a clip posted on the website. In the last part of the event the clip about the Roda do Teles in 360 virtual reality format was presented to the audience, with the support of special 3D glasses. This event thus presented the wide range of outputs to an interested audience of practitioners and wider public. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
URL | http://cnfcp.gov.br/interna.php?ID_Materia=493 |
Description | Website capoeirahistory.com |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Engagement focused website, blog or social media channel |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | The Website capoeirahistory.com was launched 12 September 2019 and has an English and a Portuguese-language section. As our homepage explains: "Our aim is to provide you with reliable information, which is backed up by research and evidence. The massive growth of capoeira worldwide has created an increased need for information on its history and traditions. The internet provides us with fantastic resources. At the same time, it induces the production and potentializes the circulation of fake news. Capoeira traditions are in the public domain and no doubt, capoeiristas, in particular, should have easy access to information about this immaterial heritage. On the other side we don't accept that work by living artists should be reproduced without asking for their consent, eventually preventing them to make a living from their art. For that reason, we think transparency is important. We aim to obtain authorisations and provide references of all the sources we display. We also endeavour to discover new sources through our research and create new resources by interviewing masters with significant experience and knowledge of capoeira history. We furthermore intend to provide a space for creative work related to capoeira, for example photography, poetry, and music.We believe that the knowledge of capoeira's rich history can inform debates about capoeira's role in the contemporary world. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019,2020,2021 |
URL | http://www.capoeirahistory.com |