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13th Dance & Non-verbal Theatre Festival San Vincenti
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Zagreb Dance Company
Hebrangova 36
10000 Zagreb, Croatia
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CAPOEIRA
2007/07/20

CAPOEIRA

CAPOEIRA

Capoeira is an Afro-Brasilian art form. Although its origin is not exactly known, it is believed it was developed by the slaves from the West Africa in the colonial Brasil.
During the 16th and the 17th century, Portugal enslaved a huge number of West Africans and sent the slaves to Brasil. Those slaves brought their cultural traditions and religion into the New World. The mixture of the two cultures resulted in capoeira, which developed as a form of resistance. From the outside, it was masterfully masked into a dance, but it was secretly practiced as a deadly skill, conveying the spirit of the black Africa and boosting the morale.

After the abolition of slavery, capoeira continued to be pracitsed on streets, as a form of amusement and folklore. Since many freed slaves were jobless, they started to form criminal gangs and capoeira soon became a symbol of anti-governmental and criminal activities. It was forbidden to practice capoeira in any form.
In the early 20th century, the situation changed. Mestre Bimba persisted in his mission to affirm capoeira and got invited to show his skill in front of the president of the state. After his demonstration, he was given a permission to found the first school of capoeira in Brasil, Luta Regional Bahiana; since then, capoeira is officially recognized as the national sport and spread all around the world. Today, capoeira is a globally popular form of recreation and a part of urban culture, spread around the world through music, dance and culture.


Capoeira Amazonas is a non-profitable association founded in Zagreb in October 2003, with the aim of promoting Brasilian culture in Croatia through numerous aspects of capoeira. It practices capoeira in full (different capoeira styles, making and playing various capoeira instruments, getting to know other aspects of Brasilian culture). The association is a member and one of the founders of the Croatian Capoeira Association which has been active since 2004, and a member of the international „Uniao Capoera Pontape“ organization, led by the Brasilian capoeira master Heitor Challegre (better known a mestre Pontape).

The association has 120 active members and is present in Zagreb, Split and Vodice. Together with the regular capoeira practice, it promotes capoeira on the level of the state (in public presentations, theatre productions and in media) and works on spreading capoeira throughout Croatia.

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