Capoeira(s)

A couple of interesting things that we did in the last week involved different forms of "capoeria". The word comes from Tupi-Guarani words which mean "a forest that used to be". The first form of capoeira that we learned about was perhaps the more well-known form. This is the capoeira that combines music, dance, and martial arts into a uniquely Brazilian art form. We had a short "class" outside of the Forte do Castelo in downtown Belém. The fort was the first building constructed in Belém, at the beginning of the 17th century, and was used to protect against incursions from England and the Netherlands (and later an indigenous uprising of Tupinambá Indians). So, we were in a heavily trafficked area and all of the primary school field trip groups stopped to watch 19 gringos look ridiculous.

As our teacher for the day told us, capoeira is a Brazilian art form with an African mother. Capoeira first formed when enslaved Africans in Brazil would practice martial arts but disguise their actions as dance. As we were told, the name of the art form came as a result of runaways who hid in the low-lying secondary forests, or capoeiras.

The second form of capoeira that we learned about was the more literal kind. We spent the last three days in São Francisco, a municipality about two hours east of Belém. There are portions of relatively undisturbed primary forest there as well as pastures, farms, and a large number of secondary forests. One of the things we learned about was the difference between those primary forests that remain and the secondary forests (or "capoeiras") that have regrown after being slashed and burned. Here's a picture of a regrowing capoeira plot next to a piece of land that was burned only about a week ago.

We also visited several farms in the area that have stopped using slash and burn and instead used heavy machinery to chop and mulch the land. They also plant a greater variety of plants and inter-plant to keep the land healthier. So we got to eat yummy tangerines at one farm and sample freshly made farinha at another.