By now, you’ve probably all seen countless games of capoeira regional and capoeira angola. You’ve played benguela, and experienced awe watching iuna. However, have you ever seen Amazonas in action? Have you played to the toque of miudinho? All of the following videos feature different variations of capoeira games, created at different times for different purposes, and they are truly interesting and fun to watch. Enjoy!
Amazonas
Amazonas, appropriately enough, has capoeiristas moving in ways that imitate rainforest animals, as well as more domestic types. It was created by Mestre Camisa of ABADA Capoeira, and is played to Mestre Bimba’s toque of the same name. It was my friend’s idea to write this post topic, but this video she sent me was the inspiration for actually doing so! It’s one of my favourites, and one of the coolest capoeira videos I’ve ever seen. It’s just so creative, and it’s amazing what people can do with their bodies. (I know that applies to capoeira in general, but somehow it really hit me with this video.)
Jogo de Dinheiro
Jogo de dinheiro, or the “money game”, involves two capoeiristas playing each other with a bill or handkerchief full of coins or money placed in the centre of the roda. The goal of the game is to pick up the money with your mouth, as reminded by the song lyrics in Apanha Laranja: “harvest the orange not with your hands, but with your feet and mouth (‘beak’)”. One source mentioned this was how capoeiristas sometimes battled for their earnings after busking on the streets. This video is from a Senzala group in Croatia, and just plain fun! I love seeing how all the capoeiristas block each other from getting the money. 😛
Jogo de Dentro
Jogo de Dentro (“Inside Game”) is generally known as the close (or closed) game where capoeiristas play low, tight and as closely to each other as possible. Unfortunately I couldn’t find any videos that for sure showed jogo de dentro being played, so instead here’s a video of Mestre Jogo de Dentro, moreover who is playing Mestre Moraes. Plenty of sweet “gotcha” moments in this one!
Miudinho
Miudinho is a particular type of close, tight game of capoeira created by Mestre Suassuna. In his words:
“The game of miudinho is generating controversy because it is being misinterpreted. People are thinking it’s a new capoeira, and it’s nothing like that. I simply rescued an older capoeira, modernized the manner of playing it, changed the sequences… the name miudinho arose because I was observing that capoeiristas were playing very distant from each other and in our time we played very close; thus, I said to people, ‘I want the game more minute, closer, play very tiny.’ Then, I created a toque on the berimbau. Miudinho is not a new capoeira, it’s a different manner to display capoeira. Just like the games of Iuna and São Bento Grande exist, the game of miudinho exists.”
The capoeira jogo in this video seems a little more acrobatic than I would’ve expected miudinho to look like, but it’s still really cool. Another video’s description mentioned how a lot of movements in miudinho are supposed to be more circular than normal so as to fit within a tight space.
I hope you enjoyed finding out about and watching these samples of “creative capoeira”. 😀 If you know of any more capoeira game variations or find cool capoeira videos that do a little something different, please share it with us!
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.
Mestra Janja, or Rosangêla de Araújo Costa, is a well-known and much esteemed mestra in the world of capoeira angola. A former student of renowned Mestres João Grande, Moraes, and Cobra Mansa, she began training in Salvador during the early 80s. In 1995, Mestra Janja founded the Instituto Nzinga de Estudos da Capoeira Angola e Tradições Educativas Banto (Grupo Nzinga de Capoeira Angola), along with Mestra Paulinha and Mestre Poloca. Instituto Nzinga, an NGO based in São Paulo and named after a 16th century African queen, works towards an anti-racism and anti-sexism mission statement beyond the preservation of capoeira angola and its traditions.
Mandingueira 