https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8020-8394
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Abstract
Capoeira is an Afro-Brazilian fight-game with live music, historically practiced in Brazil since colonial times. Over the years, capoeira activities have been archived in a variety of art forms, from ethnographic drawings to documentary photography and motion pictures, many of which carry racist connotations. Contrary to this trend, in this article, we take a closer look at a series of modern capoeira drawings by Carybé, published in the 1951’s book Jogo da Capoeira. Widely reproduced and appropriated, these drawings continue to inform how we imagine capoeira today and, in 2014, was included in the recognition of capoeira as an Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity by UNESCO. Our examination pays close attention to few overlapping game tactics or attitudes related to fight, play, dance, sports and drama. In short, we argue that Carybé’s artistic depictions of capoeira post have been instrumental to the recognition of this Afro-centric practice.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.
Notes
1 See an example of the movement “chapéu de couro” available at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rCBfWxpQSb8
2 See Freyre (Citation1938); Maranhão (Citation2007); Wisnik (Citation2008) Maranhão and Knijnik (Citation2011), Wood (Citation2019).
3 These expeditions increased with the transfer of the Portuguese court to Rio de Janeiro in 1808, due to the Napoleonic Wars.
4 See the picture in <https://pt.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ficheiro:Rugendasroda.jpg > and original in: <https://pt.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ficheiro:Rugendasroda.jpg>
5 Earle (1820–24) Capoeira Scene, “Negroes fighting, Brazil”, Brazil, 1820–24. In Slavery Images: A Visual Record of the African Slave Trade and Slave Life in the Early African Diaspora. (2021), accessed July 7, 2021, http://slaveryimages.org/s/slaveryimages/item/2769.
6 Despite’s Carybé’s attention to movement, one should note, these drawings disregard sweat, physical exhaustion and accidental mishaps or injuries. Similarly, the author chose to omit class and the poverty surrounding black spaces at the time. Regarding instruments, the reco-reco is absent in this image, but listed and illustrated elsewhere. However, the atabaque drum, a staple instrument of capoeira today, is not featured in the book.
7 Located in the northeast of Brazil, Salvador was Brazil’s first capital and, according to Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics, 80% of the population of the city was black (IBGE Citation2015) Yet, in general, the white elites resisted the recognition of its black arts.
8 Regarding the African American contributions to Basketball, see also Wideman (Citation1990), and Dyson (2008).
9 The absence of shoes amongst capoeira players may possibly indicate they were working-class. Alternatively, it could be a symbolic reference to enslavement.
10 The main systematizations of Capoeira were created at the beginning of the 20th century by Mestre Bimba (Capoeira Regional) and Mestre Pastinha (Capoeira Angola), and currently there are other manifestations of Capoeira that mix these two lineages or created new ways of playing capoeira (Capoeira Contemporânea).
11 Similarly, when they play the berimbau, a type of gourd-resonating musical bow, players straighten their torso and flatten their stomach to absorb the gourd’s resonance and produce different sounds.
12 To delve into specific studies on gender and capoeira, check out the research by Owen and De Martini Ugolotti (Citation2019).
13 Espaço Carybé de Artes is a museum dedicated to his art and life, located in Salvador, Bahia.