This was a post I saw on Chan’s Soul Capoeira Blog/Site a while ago, and I’ve been meaning to appropriate it every since! I think I agree with his views when it comes to all-women rodas, etc., for fairly obvious reasons, but I also feel I need to do more thinking through of the matter, too. However, I’ll save that for some time later down the road. For now, witness some real mandingueiras in action!
Part 1
Part 2
Here is a short clip of Mestra Jararaca playing, in an old video from 1997. Thanks again to Shayna for the link!
Between puxada de rede as ritual, as celebration, as prayer, as livelihood, and as folklore, you can imagine just how many ways there are to interpret and choreograph this dance/play. The following are two videos that I think together fully represent all of what puxada de rede is. Enjoy!
This first video was one of my favourites out of all the ones I saw, because it seemed to incorporate everything, all the elements of the story and of the tradition:
This second video is not of a performance, but—the real thing! It’s a clip from Rex Schlinder’s documentary, Bahia Por Exemplo, and shows a group of fishermen doing puxada de rede as it was originally intended, hauling a gargantuan net of fish out of the sea and onto shore.
Dear reader, please play the following clips of maculelê performances for your viewing pleasure!
With grimas:
With facãos:
Maculelê roda:
There were too many to choose from! I’ll put two up here, and they’re a little lengthy, but worth it.
This first one is Contra-Mestra Susy playing several of her students, and you can just feel the fun she’s having playing them, through the video. (And props to the kid for his macaco, hehe.) There are also some really interesting parts where you can almost (almost) forgive those people who mistake capoeira for [purely] a dance. 😛 Contra-Mestra Susy is the one in all white.
This second one has Contra-Mestra Susy playing someone more her level, and again, they are obviously having fun (another difference that’s starting to come up more between angola and regional to me; angola games seem to have a lot more playfulness at…well, play…than the average regional game). Watch for a really cool section near the end of the first half, where it looks like they’re playing at intense regional speed, but with clearly angola movements.
And for those who still haven’t had enough, here’s a link to more!
http://youtube.com/results?search_query=capoeira+angola+susy+vadiacao&search=Search
(Source: http://www.capoeira-connection.com/main/content/view/156/78)
Following yesterday’s post, this is a great video from Grupo Nzinga, and for me it was a fascinating glimpse into the world of capoeira angola, which I’d never really fully realized before was so apart and different from the world of capoeira regional. It was really interesting doing the research on Mestra Janja yesterday as well, and I definitely hope to learn more about capoeira angola as this goes on. Make sure you don’t miss the footage of Mestra Janja conducting the Nzinga Berimbau Orchestra in the last part!
Click here to see other posts in Ie viva meu Mestra
_
I don’t know about you, but my head still hurts a little from working through yesterday’s post (and subsequent comments)! While I take some time to clear up, straighten out, and hammer down the finer points of Part 2 (and oh yeah, study for final exams), I’d like to share a really cool video with you. It’s a tribute to Grande Mestre No from Salvador, and some parts are a bit slow, but I like it because it seems to highlight the pure motion of capoeira, stripping it down to the essence of movement of the body, with beautiful results. And thanks again to Xixarro for the tip on embedding videos!
To follow up on her biography, this is an awesome video I found while looking for more information on Mestranda Marcia. It’s for a documentary about her and Abada Capoeira San Francisco, called Cigarra Capoeirista. My favourite parts are the maculele performance about half-way in (I love, love, love, love, love maculele), where they use real machetes (sweeeet), and the jogo with razors about two thirds in. Enjoy!
Click here to see other posts in Ie viva meu Mestra
_
It dawned on me that my previous posts on Mestras Edna and Suelly were kind of like trying to teach someone about an artist without showing them a single one of the artist’s paintings. Thus without further ado, I’d like to present to you the following videos!
This first one shows Mestra Edna Lima playing (now-) Mestranda Marcia, which is perfect as she’s whom I’ll be writing about next! It’s an old 90’s video from a roda in California. Mestra Edna is the one in the sports top, and their game lasts for about the first 50 seconds. This video is cool also because it shows Mestre Marcelo playing after, capoeira’s own real-life video game character =D:
Second, we have Mestra Suelly in a batizado roda from earlier this year. I like the double kick she does towards the end!
Mandingueira 