When you see two people playing capoeira you may think to yourself, " It's called a martial art, but are they really fighting or are they dancing?" The answer is both! When you mix combative movements from the regions of Angola, Congo and Mozambique with cultural dance and self expression then you have Capoeira. Enslaved people taken from Africa to Brazil were able to preserve their spiritual practices and their culture. Slavery doesn't allow you to express yourself or contain a part of your inner being so many of their practices had to be hidden or done in secret. With Capoeira the dance disguises the combative movements and is done in a way where it looks like a type of dance or game between two people. During the slave trade up to the 1700s any combative practice was forbidden and illegal which sometimes resulted in some brutal and violent consequences. So many, wanting to keep their culture, resisted through using song and dance as a cover to continue to practice their culture. Today in Brazil Capoeira is an international sport. You can find it all over the world for it's something that can be practiced no matter how old or how young you are.
The music in Capoeira helps to drives the energy of the players in the roda or circle formed by other people who are participating in the game of Capoeira. It can be fast and it can be really slow. The instruments include the berimbau, reco reco, pandeiro, agogo, atabaque and the voices of those playing the 5 primary instruments. All the instruments together make up a bateria or a band. There are many many songs about all kinds of things in Capoeira. The songs the players sing in the roda can be about nature, people in brazilian history, folklore, Capoeira Masters or messages of warnings for players to be careful or play a certain way while playing in the roda. Capoeira can be played without the music, but it will be like missing a part of your body. The music gives energy and drives the game of the players in the roda. There's a spiritual element to the music which can give one a feeling that can best be expressed by experiencing the music for yourself.