Thursday, July 19, 2012 Page B1
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WHAT’S ON? Q DINING GUIDE Q REAL ESTATE Q CLASSIFIED Q SERVICE GUIDE Q PROFESSIONAL DIRECTORY
Photos by Marisol Diaz
JORGE BALLESTERO and Ella Gonzalez do head stands in the Saturday kids capoeira class at Church of the Mediator, above. Brandon Taft does an Armada com martelo kick on July 13 during the free Friday Capoeira classes at Van Cortlandt Park, at left. Alejandro Quesdada does a Beija Flor movement, below.
Capoeira brings Brazil to the Bronx
By Emma Penrod
newsroom@riverdalepress.com
V
an Cortlandt Park is a long way from the rainforests of Brazil, but when Marcelo Fagundes and his students circle up on the park lawn, singing to the beat of their drums, you can almost hear the the trills of tropical birds. Mr. Fagundes began his own study of capoeira — a Brazilian martial art that looks as much like dance as it looks like combat — in his native Brazil, at the age of 9. In 2003, after several years of practice, he moved with a performing martial arts group to Mexico. Eventually he was invited to a special event in San Francisco, and, when given the choice, decided to stay in the states. Two years ago, he moved to Riverdale with Jennifer Sanchez-Fagundes, his wife, fellow capoeirista and business partner. Together the pair hopes to bring capoeira and all it has to offer to the Bronx. “We use capoeira as a tool for social change, to impact the lives of people,” Ms. Sanchez-Fagundes said, explaining that the art she and her husband teach can be used to inspire students to be active physically and socially within
GRADUADA FRANJINHA performs a martelo kick.
their communities, just as capoeira inspired strength within individuals and communities in the past. According to oral history, Capoeira was developed by enslaved Africans brought to Brazil in the 1500s. Stripped of their native traditions, but determined to fight for their freedom, these Africans began to develop their own martial art — a way to defend themselves against their taskmasters without weapons, which, of course, were off limits. To further ensure success, early capoeiristas disguised their practice as a dance and set it to music. Groups of capoeiristas eventually rose up against their taskmasters, successfully escaped and formed communities called Quilombos, where the escaped slaves continued to practice capoeira and to teach it to others. The art, and the sense of community it fosters, survived nearly three centuries of slavery and even a prohibition against its practice. Today, capoeira no longer wages war against oppression. Instead, it fights inactivity and apathy. In fact, capoeiristas no longer “fight” at all, according to Ms. Sanchez-Fagundes. Modern capoeiristas meet to play “games,” in which two capoeiristas in the center of a circle known as a roda, surrounded by other capoeiristas singing and playing instruments, develop an intricate dance while they take turns reacting to one another’s movements. To make physical contact is to make a mistake. “The object is to play together,” Ms. Sanchez-Fagundes said. “It’s not one that wins over the other — it’s the game that wins.” Students have an opportunity to play together at the end of each class, but the bulk of their time is spent in practice, where they line up and run through drills individually, learning new moves and combinations of moves from Mr. Fagundes. However, the structure of the class is loose and fluid, like capoeira itself. The atmosphere is friendly. In keeping with capoeira’s underground history, each capoeirista goes by a nickname, given by their teacher. Mr. Fagundes, whose head is said to be as hard as a coconut, is known as “Côco” or coconut.
EDDIE BELLIARD, at left, gets one-on-one time with instructor Marcelo Fagundes. Ms. Sanchez-Fagundes is “Franjinha” or little bangs, thanks to the haircut she had when she started training during her first year of college. In order to advance in rank, students must not only master the martial art, but also learn to play the traditional instruments that accompany it, such as the atabaque, the drum, and the berimbau, an instrument with a single string that is struck with a mallet. There’s live music at every class. Additionally, students are expected to be active in their communities. At higher ranks, another requirement is
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thrown into the mix — the charge that they pass on capoeira to the next generation. That charge led Mr. Fagundes to offer the free community classes that would shape the course of a then 9-yearold boy’s life. It is also the reason why he reaches out to the youth of the Bronx, sometimes giving away his own services to those who can’t afford them in the hope that they will find something in capoeira — be it the music, the dance-like movement, the cultural heritage or the community atmosphere. Like the original capoeira, which
attracted not only runaway slaves, but also native Brazillians and European outlaws, Mr. Fagundes’ classes are diverse, bringing young children, teens, and middle-aged adults of all ethnicities into the same classroom each week. When he offers free classes in the park, as he did last Friday evening, the classes become even more diverse, drawing in spectators from the sidelines. That come-together message is the spirit of capoeira, according to Mr. Fagundes. “Capoeira is for everyone,” he said.
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