For 13 minutes, no one noticed the first jeans Hilfiger designed. It's all good.
Anyway, I like the pictures. They all capture a lot of motion. But what's the deal with the sticks?
Participants use sticks a lot in capoeira to keep rhythm. I guess technically its called Maculelê; in Brazil, I've seen it done with machetes--a lot more dramatic than sticks!
Quote:
Maculelê – Capoeira’s Wild Cousin
By tudobeleza
Maculelê (Pronounced: mah-koo-leh-LEH) is an Afro Brazilian dance where a number of people gather in a circle called a roda with one or more atabaques positioned at the entrance of the circle. Each person brandishes a pair of long sticks, traditionally made from biriba wood from Brazil. The sticks, called grimas, traditionally measure 24 inches long by 1 and 1/8 inch thick. As the Maculelê rhythm plays on the atabaque, the people in the circle begin rhythmically striking the sticks together. The leader sings, and the people in the circle respond by singing the chorus of the songs. When the leader gives the signal to begin playing Maculelê, two people enter the circle, and to the rhythm of the atabaque, they begin striking their own and each other’s sticks together. On the first three beats, they strike their own sticks together, making expressive and athletic dance movements, and on each fourth beat, they strike each other’s respective right-hand stick together. This makes for a dance that looks like “mock stick combat”. (Also, traditionally in Maculelê, the players wear dried grass skirts).
In some capoeira schools, Maculelê can be played with the use of a pair of facões (literally big knife) which are large knives of about 40 cm, used primarily to cut way through tall grass areas. However this style of play is only practiced by graduated students and masters. It is characterized by the loud noises and flying sparks when the players strike the knives.
The "stick" is a berimbau.
The berimbau (pronounced /bəˈrɪmbaʊ/) is a single-string percussion instrument, a musical bow, from Brazil. The berimbau's origins are not entirely clear, but there is not much doubt on its African origin, as no Indigenous Brazilian or European people use musical bows, and very similar instruments are played in the southern parts of Africa.[1] The berimbau was eventually incorporated into the practice of the Afro-Brazilian martial art capoeira, where it commands how the capoeiristas move in the roda.
Capoeira and maculele are both a lot of fun to watch. There's usually a show as part of the Fringe/Live Arts festival, & I think this year's no different. Highly recommended.
Brazilian Festival - Capoeira
I'd rather be at the beach!
