Capoeira Senzala Slovenija, Contramestre Luis Claudio

Introduction, history

Capoiera as a war dance, Johann moritz Rogendas (1825, published in 1835)

Capoeira is one of the most prominent and widespread activities of the Brazilian culture. It is a mixture of combat, dance, music, game and folk traditions. It evolved over the centuries with the life of slavery in colonial Brazil between members of African tribes and other indigent people that, in this way maintained their traditions, culture, maintained their vitality and thereby strengthen their bodies and spirit in the fight of survival.

After the withdrawal of slavery in 1888, the freed slaves were faced with unemployment, which lead them into criminal activities. Within these criminal gangs, capoeira prevailed and got stronger. At that time the repression of capoeira started and the result was  a total ban in 1890.

Today, capoeira is recognized as  a cultural and intangible heritage of Brazil and thus it is protected by law. Credits for this go to one of the most important representatives of capoeira, Mestre Bimba, who introduced capoeira to a wider population through the establishment of the first official capoeira academy. To change the face of capoeira in the eyes of people, Mestre Bimba removed many of traditional elements the ritual and ceremony out of the game and exercises in his academy. The result of these changes was a style of capoeira that is known as Capoeira Regional. In this way he also reached the middle and higher society classes.

In preserving this art, Mestre Pastinha also played an important role, who founded his first official academy in 1942, where he taught a more traditional style of capoeira called Capoeira Angola.