Hello, class!
Today, we’re going to take a little field trip over to The Capoeira Blog, where Faisca has kindly published a guest post of mine. Faisca was really nice in helping me when I first started trying to get Mandingueira off the ground, and so I’d like to take this opportunity to say thank you!
Before going on to the guest post, I apologize in advance for any irregularities in posting this week! I’m actually on vacation in North Africa right now, so it’s going to be a little bit tricky. The topic for today’s post went through an interesting process. Originally, I was going to publish the article on maculelê, first in the Capoeira é Dança series. Then, thanks to Day 1 of my trip, in fact, I completely forgot about that and was going to write a one-off post titled “The Scariest Night of My Life and Why Things Like this Blog Need to Exist”. (Don’t worry, nothing happened, but that fact itself was also a part of it, as you’ll see.) Now that Faisca has published my guest post, I also plan to publish a sister post to it, looking at women’s strength and the perception of it (or its lack) from a more theoretical point of view. I hope to keep posting throughout my trip, and will hit all of the things mentioned above, so please keep checking back for more!
Contra-Mestra Susy became the first European female in capoeira angola to earn her rank’s belt, in 1992, and she puts the “dance” in the dance-fight-game. In addition to nineteen years of capoeira, sixteen of which were with Berlin’s Mestre Rosalvo (the first angoleiro to arrive in Europe), she studies and practices breakdancing as well as Afro-Brazilian dances associated with capoeira. Contra-Mestra Susy, or Susanne Oesterreicher, also performed in the dance piece Grupo Oito by Ricardo de Paula, with whom she has been working since 2005, and who choreographed her debut solo performance, “Identity”. Ricardo de Paula is known for his work in attempting to combine contemporary dance and “contact improvisation”, inspired by capoeira.
Yep. You, my friend, have just stumbled upon a fine showing of samba de roda, one of the many Brazilian or Afro-Brazilian dances associated with doing capoeira. Be prepared to stumble upon many more, as we go through afro, xaxado, coco de roda, and maracatu, just to name a few!
(Essential Capoeira: The Guide to Mastering the Art; Available January 29, 2008) Fun, different, and above all effective, capoeira is a unique dance-fight-fitness program enhancing strength, stamina, and flexibility training for the entire body. … In clear, accessible language, author Mestre Ponchianinho explains the aims and benefits of the discipline, along with its history, origins, and philosophy. He continues by introducing the two main styles along with the techniques of the most famous mestres. Easy-to-follow warm-ups, basic moves, defense and escape moves, kicks, training combinations, strengthening exercises, ground movements; and more advanced acrobatic movements are all described and illustrated in step-by-step photographs. […]
Mestra Paulinha, like Mestra Janja, is a veritable force to be reckoned with in the fields of social issues, academia, and (of course) capoeira. Last year marked her 25th in capoeira angola, and in that time she: earned a master’s and doctorate degree in Sociology (from the University of Bahia and University of São Paulo, respectively); became a distinguished professor at the University of Bahia; gave lectures on various topics in various settings; published scholarly articles; and worked with Mestra Janja to focus attention on (anti-)racism, youth, higher education, identity, black culture, and women in capoeira.
It has been all along, right under our noses—just not our regional ones! 
Mandingueira 
