Kicking it the capoeira way

The Carrboro Commons
Story edited by Chris Moore
Spring 2011
Kicking it the capoeira way
Workshop embraces
dance, culture of art
By Alex Linder
Carrboro Commons Staff Writer
In Portuguese, bencao means “bless-­
ing.” In capoeira, bencao means “a
front kick.”
In Carrboro from March 18 to March
20, numerous bencaos of both defi-­
nitions were given out in a work-­
shop directed by The American Society
of Capoeira and Arts from Brazil
(ASCAB).
“The whole weekend is just such an
experience for everyone involved,” said
Chris Geddings, the Carrboro capoeira
instructor who uses the name Cebola.
“It’s a lot of hard work, but in the in end
it really brings everybody together.”
The workshop, featuring ASCAB
members from across North Carolina,
was under the direction of Mestre
Doutor, a master of capoeira and the
founder and artistic director of the
ASCAB based in Philadelphia.
Capoeira is a Brazilian art form that
is often called dance fighting. But it
involves much more than just dance
moves by incorporating elements of
history, sports, acrobatics, music and
philosophy.
Capoeira originated in Brazil more
than 400 years ago, when slaves began
disguising their self-­defense training
with dance. The name comes from the
Portuguese word for “brush covered
field,” which was where the Portuguese
first saw slaves practicing the martial
art.
While the culture and history of
capoeira have been preserved, its mean-­
ing and practice have shifted through
the centuries. Saturday’s performance,
the highlight of the weekend’s train-­
ing sessions, found the brush fields of
Brazil replaced by the wooden floor of
the Carrboro Century Center.
A capoeira performance is called a
roda. In a roda, members gather in
a circle. Two members meet in the
center of the circle, crouch down and
shake hands. What follows is some-­
thing between sparring and dancing
Learn more about capoeira and ASCAB
www.ascabcapoeiranc.com
Staff photo by Alex Linder
Mestre Doutor, left, and Molly Hayes play in a roda while other participants
in the workshop play traditional Brazilian music.
this is best described as play.
The players flip and dive to avoid
each other’s kicks.
“The rodas are what it is all about
for us,” said Geddings. “Playing is seri-­
ous, but also just awesome.”
The other members formed the circle
and played and chanted traditional
Brazilian songs or chants.
Geddings said the music is supposed
to follow the action and rhythm of the
players in the center. The chants can
be directed at the players themselves
and are often derogatory.
“Most of it is just mocking each other,
but in a good-­natured way,” Geddings
said.
Apart from the ridicule, the students
said they found themselves attracted to
capoeira for a wide variety of reasons.
Geddings, a systems administrator
at Duke University, started practicing
capoeira in 2002 and said that it is a
great exercise and stress reliever.
Geddings suffered from a herniated
disc less than a year ago. Even now
it can be very painful, but practicing
capoeira has helped ease that pain.
“If someone sees the kind of stuff I’m
doing out there, I bet they wouldn’t
think I would be someone with back
problems,” he said.
Others are attracted to the different
features of capoeira that have made it
more than just an exercise, but a cul-­
tural experience.
Molly Hayes, a therapist from Chapel
Hill, used to take classes in Portuguese.
She said she saw capoeira as a way of
keeping up with the language and also
its history.
“It’s a really excellent activity,” she
said. “There are so many different
aspects of capoeira.”
Carrboro may seem like an unusual
place for a capoeira meeting, but the
art form has been gaining popularity
throughout the East Coast. There are
other North Carolina-­based capoeira
groups in Boone and Charlotte.
Gabrielle Motta-­Passajon, a Brazilian
native, instructs the group in Boone
and is another student of Doutor. She
too was drawn to capoeira because of
the musicality of it, but she ended up
staying because of the multiple layers
that make up the art.
“Art, philosophy, history, life lessons
— these are all part of what you can
learn when practicing capoeira,” she
said. “Once you’ve practiced capoeira
for 30 years, you become a wise person.”
Doutor believes a great sense of com-­
munity is one of the best features of
capoeira. There is no higher rank he
can achieve in the art. Instead, he
has devoted himself to teaching young
people why he loves capoeira.